Sports Mole previews Sunday’s Serie A clash between Genoa and Fiorentina, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
Genoa and Fiorentina are separated by two points and two places in the Serie A table in what is an obvious relegation six-pointer at Stadio Luigi Ferraris in Sunday’s gameweek 11 fixture.
The Ligurian side dismissed Patrick Vieira a week ago and have since appointed 2006 World Cup winner Daniele De Rossi, while Paolo Vanoli should be in charge before this weekend’s trip, following Stefano Pioli‘s dismissal on Tuesday.
Match preview
Leo Ostigard was the hero last weekend as Genoa secured a 2-1 victory away at Sassuolo in gameweek 10, scoring at the death to clinch the Rossoblu’s first league success.
Having entered the previous round as one of four teams still without a victory in the league, the win over the Neroverdi moved the Grifone off the foot of the table and into 18th place, while this weekend’s opponents slid to the bottom of the top flight.
By scoring two goals in a single game, Genoa ended a run of nine Serie A matches without netting two or more goals since beating Bologna 3-1 in May.
With both goals, Genoa no longer share the worst attack alongside Parma (five), but have scored just one goal more than the Crusaders; meanwhile, 14 goals conceded are worse than all but four teams: Fiorentina (16), Hellas Verona (16), Torino (16) and Udinese (15).
Aiming to secure consecutive Serie A victories for the first time since January 2024 — when they achieved 2-1 wins over Salernitana and Lecce — De Rossi needs to break a 22-month drought in Liguria to potentially move out of the bottom three at the end of the 11th gameweek.
The precedent indicates that this aspiration is unlikely, given that the Rossoblu have not beaten Fiorentina since September 2019, and the Viola aim to extend that six-year unbeaten run.
However, the situation in Florence worsened a week ago when Lecce defeated the Viola 1-0 in Tuscany, ultimately costing Pioli his job after a brief return.
That defeat saw Fiorentina drop to the bottom of the Serie A table, with the away side holding the unwanted record of the league’s leakiest defence and one of the worst attacks with seven goals, two more than Parma.
Issues at both ends highlight the problems troubling the Violets ahead of this weekend, and they enter the 11th gameweek fresh off losing their undefeated European record, falling to Mainz 05 in the 95th minute despite leading in the Conference League match.
Now, without a league win since securing back-to-back 3-2 victories over Bologna and Fiorentina to finish the 2024-25 season, Fiorentina hope that the managerial change will inspire a turnaround as they seek to escape the dreaded relegation zone.
With an agreement reached with former Torino boss Vanoli, the Gigliati travel to Liguria aiming to continue a positive run that has seen them defeat the Rossoblu five times in the past six meetings, maintaining a broader nine-match unbeaten streak.
Genoa Serie A form:
Genoa form (all competitions):
Fiorentina Serie A form:
Fiorentina form (all competitions):
Team News
Ruslan Malinovskyi will be a significant absence for De Rossi’s debut in Liguria after accumulating several yellow cards, ruling him out for one match.
Sebastian Otoa is also sidelined, though due to a muscle injury, even if the centre-back was not expected to play any part anyway, having only featured once this season.
With Malinovskyi absent, Genoa have no player who has contributed more than a goal, meaning a team without enough match-winning quality will need to work extra hard on Sunday.
It remains to be seen if De Rossi will switch from a back three to a back four for the weekend, adding to the intrigue for the hosts.
Although Fiorentina suffered no new injury concerns against Mainz on Thursday, Tariq Lamptey (knee) and Robin Gosens (muscle) are injured, while Christian Kouame has not appeared since suffering a serious knee injury in April.
Having not been included in Daniele Galloppa’s XI in the defeat by Mainz, Moise Kean should start in Liguria, aiming to score only his second Serie A goal of the season.
The forward, along with Rolando Mandragora, are the Viola’s top goalscorers, emphasising the bottom-placed club’s struggles in attack this term.
Genoa possible starting lineup:
Leali; Norton-Cuffy, Ostigard, Vasquez, Martin; Frendrup, Masini, Thorsby; Ellertsson, Messias, Vitinha
Fiorentina possible starting lineup:
De Gea; Pongracic, Mari, Ranieri; Dodo, Mandragora, Caviglia, Fagioli, Fortini; Dzeko, Kean
We say: Genoa 1-1 Fiorentina
There is so much uncertainty ahead of Sunday, given the managerial changes at Genoa and Fiorentina.
With the hosts making their change slightly earlier than the Viola, that should give them an edge, albeit not a significant one.
While they are backed to avoid defeat to their Tuscan visitors, Genoa’s wait for consecutive league wins is likely to continue as both teams share the points this weekend.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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