Serie A | Gameweek 20

Jan 12, 2025 at 11.30am UK

Stadio Comunale Luigi Ferraris

Genoa vs Parma

Match preview

Patrick Vieira's been a bit of a magic bullet for Genoa lately. They've been doing pretty well in the Serie A table, losing only one of their last nine matches.

Before Vieira took over, the Grifone were leaking goals and had become too easy to beat, but they've kept five clean sheets in the last nine games.

Since the start of November, no other team has had more shut-outs – both Milan clubs have five too – and now Genoa are within three points of the top 10.

Last time they played, they didn't manage to win, with a 0-0 draw against Lecce. Morten Thorsby and Andrea Pinamonti both had great chances, but they both missed, and the ball hit the crossbar.

With a packed lower half, the Ligurian side are still hovering dangerously close to the drop zone, and they remain one of two teams yet to win a single home fixture this season, alongside rock-bottom Monza.

After six draws and four defeats at Marassi, they'll be looking to finally end that run this weekend, when they'll be going in search of a third straight Serie A win over Parma.

Parma have only won one of their first 12 away matches against Genoa in the top flight, but they've won the last three.

Hopefully that will be a good sign for Sunday's match, especially since last season they were Serie B champions and are currently fighting for survival.

Last week, the Gialloblu kept a second clean sheet since getting promoted, holding Torino to a goalless draw in Turin, with Valentin Mihaila coming closest to breaking through when his powerful shot thumped against the post.

After beating Monza, who are also fighting relegation, Fabio Pecchia's team could now go three games unbeaten for the second time this season - and the first since they drew four games in a row in October.

Before they head to Liguria, Parma have taken eight points from 27 on their travels, and they'll need to step up if they're going to move away from the relegation places.

Recent Performance

Genoa Serie A form:WDDLWD

Parma Serie A form:WLLLWD

Team News

Genoa are still missing Caleb Ekuban, Brooke Norton-Cuffy, Honest Ahanor and Ruslan Malinovskyi because of injuries, and Vitinha has a thigh strain and will be on the sidelines this weekend too.

On the plus side, Patrick Vieira has a fully fit Uruguayan defender in Alan Matturro, who has recovered from the shoulder problem that kept him out of action for two matches; Junior Messias is also back in full training, but may not be involved just yet.

Andrea Pinamonti is set to lead the hosts' attack at Stadio Ferraris, having been directly involved in four goals in five Serie A games against Parma. At the other end of the scale, goalkeeper Nicola Leali boasts the league's best save rate this season (76.5%).

Parma are missing Adrian Bernabe, Alessandro Circati, Gabriel Charpentier, Mateusz Kowalski and Yordan Osorio, but key creator Dennis Man could be passed fit to start.

After the Romania winger didn't play in Turin last week because of a back injury, he'll now be competing with his fellow countryman Valentin Mihaila, Pontus Almqvist, Matteo Cancellieri and Ange-Yoan Bonny for places up front.

New signing Mathias Lovik, who plays left-back for Norway Under-21s and has joined from Molde, should be on the bench.

Possible starting lineup

Genoa possible starting lineup:

Leali; De Winter, Bani, Vasquez, Martin; Frendrup, Badelj, Thorsby; Zanoli, Pinamonti, Miretti

Parma possible starting lineup:

Suzuki; Del Prato, Valenti, Balogh, Valeri; Keita, Sohm; Man, Hernani, Mihaila; Bonny