WOMEN, PARMA v AC MILAN: MATCH PREVIEW

The fourth game of the season will see Maurizio Ganz's AC Milan take on Parma on their travels for the first time in the history of Women's football. It's a key fixture for the Rossonere who aim to build on their 3-1 victory over Sassuolo, a game we present on our Match Preview.

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The impressive win over the Black and Green enabled Milan to move up the table while it reinvigorated the morale in the camp, which the Rossonere could use to their advantage in a bid to bounce back from the 2-0 defeat at AS Roma. The reversal in the Italian capital brought AC Milan's five-game unbeaten streak away from PUMA House of Football to an end. Up until that point, Ganz's team had been on a roll, clocking up 11 points in five league away games in 2022. Marta Mascarello returns to the squad as the squad nears full fitness after an injury-hit start to the season. Alia Guagni, however, is unavailable.

Here is the squad list for the match: Babb, Beka, Giuliani; Árnadóttir, Carage, Fusetti, Mesjasz, Soffia, Thrige, Tucceri Cimini; Adami, K. Dubcová, Grimshaw, Mascarello, Vigilucci; Asllani, Bergamaschi, M. Dubcová, Piemonte, Thomas.

"We're happy to be playing at the Tardini; it's big for me personally as I played for Parma, so it will be a special day," said Head Coach Maurizio Ganz. "It'll be a tough game. We're lagging behind and need some big performances. We'll give it a go, trying to improve and to bring the group closer together, trying to increase fitness level. We hope to have a great game."

LATEST FROM PARMA
Likewise, Parma have three points on board from their opening three league games. Between defeats on the road at Inter and Fiorentina, the Stadio Tardini outfit fought back from a goal down to see off Sassuolo 2-1. The Gialloblù go into this one following a turbulent Coppa Italia in midweek, in which the Crociate took a 3-0 lead at the start of the first half and then 5-1 after the break, before drawing 5-5. Besides keeping goalkeepers Capeletti and Ciccioli and midfielder Bardin from Empoli, the Emilians bolstered their squad with a host of players joining from the Italian league. Except for defenders Marchão and Williams and midfielder Farrelly, most players plied their trade in Women's Serie A such as former Rossonere Nora Heroum, Croatian defender Ana Jelenčić and up-front Melania Martinovic who netted against Fiorentina on Sunday.

After their Coppa Italia game, here's what Parma boss Fabio Ulderici had to say: "We're having a tough season, in which every chance, every moment is an opportunity to take a step forward. These games are important. We need to get a handle on the situation and then recover a bit of energy because, in two days, we have another tough game against a good team, and we need to take stock without getting down."

PRE-MATCH
AC Milan and Parma facing off is unprecedented in Women's Football as the latter are into their maiden full campaign after acquiring the licence from Empoli in June. AC Milan, meanwhile, will take on the second team from the Emilia Romagna region after inflicting a 3-1 defeat on Sassuolo last Sunday. The Rossonere drew all of their away games on Emilian territory. Hence, beating Parma would extend AC Milan's winning record to nine Italian regions. No side has conceded more headed goals than Parma in the opening three league games, which could play into AC Milan's hands: in fact, of the last eight goals the Rossonere have scored, four were headers. While the Men's First Team took on Parma on 27 occasions in the league on the road (most recently on April 10, 2021), achieving 12 wins, seven draws and eight losses, the encounter at the Stadio Ennio Tardini will be the first official game between the female teams of the two football clubs.

WHERE TO WATCH THE GAME
Parma v AC Milan will be broadcast on TIMvision and on Milan TV this Sunday from 14:30 CEST. The match will also be covered on acmilan.com, the Rossoneri's social media pages and on the AC Milan Official App, where the entire match will be available on demand the day after.

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Andrea Bordin, from Bassano del Grappa, has been chosen as the match official for the game between Parma and Milan. Torresan (Bassano del Grappa) and Munerati (Rovigo) are the linesmen while Mazzer (Conegliano) is the fourth official.

Sassuolo v Juventus at 12.30 will kick-off Women's Serie A Matchday 4. At 14.30, Parma face Milan while Roma host Fiorentina. On Sunday 25th Pomigliano and Como go head-to-head at 12.30 followed by Sampdoria v Inter two hours later.

This is the Serie A TIM table: Fiorentina, Sampdoria 9; Inter, Juventus 7; Roma 6; Milan, Parma 3; Sassuolo, Pomigliano, Como 0.

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