Sports Mole previews Monday’s Serie A clash between Genoa and Cagliari, including predictions, team news and possible line-ups.
Promoted together last year, Genoa And Cagliari will both be looking for points to ensure Serie A survival when they meet at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris on Monday.
A Rossoblu battle pits a home side who have all but confirmed their safety against in-form Cagliari, whose recent form has taken them out of the drop zone.
Match Preview
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Occupying 12th place in the Serie A table with five matches remaining, Genoa’s return to the top flight can already be considered a success, and only a disastrous turn of events would see them fall through the relegation trap.
Instead, Alberto GilardinoThe Spanish team will be hoping to finish their comeback campaign on a high note, although recent results have likely ended their quest for a final top 10 finish.
After last week’s defeat to Lazio – which also knocked them out of the Coppa Italia earlier this season – they have picked up just six points from their last six games.
Although Genoa has troubled the top teams at times – beating Roma and drawing against Inter Milan, Napoli and Juventus – their success has largely come at the expense of the teams around them in the standings.
In matches between teams currently outside the Serie A top 11, the Grifone have won the most points so far (25); Monday’s visitors also fare well in this regard, as five of Cagliari’s seven wins have been against such opponents.
Before the teams meet at Marassi, Genoa’s last three top-flight home matches against the Sardinians all resulted in a 1-0 victory for the hosts – but they lost the reverse match in November 2-1.
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With just one clean sheet in their last 20 Serie A matches against Genoa – and having failed to score in four of their last six – the recent history will be against Cagliari who emerge victorious in their last game of april.
However, Claudio RanieriThe team has embarked on a superb run of results against all odds and now holds survival within reach as the finish line approaches.
Having held mighty Inter Milan to a draw, having beaten Atalanta BC 2-1 a week earlier, the Sardinian side almost stunned fallen giants Juventus last time out, when only a desperate late fightback from their visitors denied them maximum points.
Penalties converted by Gianluca Gaetano And Yerry Mina had put Cagliari in control, but they couldn’t hold on; Nonetheless, a 2–2 draw left them 14th in the table and three points above the relegation zone.
Unbeaten in four matches, the Isolani now travel to the continent, where they have won just one of their 16 away matches since promotion; Only Salernitana and Frosinone have collected fewer points on the road, so a victory at Marassi would be a surprise.
Genoa Serie A form:
Cagliari Serie A form:
Team News
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While Genoa will have Vitinha returning to action following leg injury, Mattia Bani, Ruslan Malinovskyi And Junior Messiahs are all set to miss Monday, alongside long-term absentees Alan Matturro.
Although he has recently taken on a more prominent role, with Caleb Ekuban coming to join the Italian striker Mateo Retegui up front, highly rated striker Albert Gudmundsson is sure to start in the final third.
The latter scored in the reverse fixture against Cagliari and has accumulated 13 goals in Serie A so far this season, but the visitors have a threat of their own.
Rarely a starter, supersub Nicolas Viola has been directly involved in three goals in his last two top-flight matches against Genoa, scoring one of his league-high five goals as a substitute against the Grifone in November.
As Zito Luvumbo must serve suspension – and his fellow attackers Andrea Petagna, Marco Mancosu And Leonard Pavoletti are all ruled out due to injury – Viola’s chances of seeing action are substantial.
However, Cagliari coach Claudio Ranieri will most likely pair Eldor Shomurodov with Gianluca Gaetano or Gianluca Lapadula in attack.
Genoa possible starting lineup:
Martinez; Vogliacco, De Winter, Vasquez; Sabelli, Frendrup, Badelj, Thorsby, Martin; Gudmundsson, Retegui
Cagliari possible starting lineup:
Scratch; Hatzdiakos, Mina, Dossena; Nandez, Deiola, Makoumbou, Sulemana, Augello; Shomorudov, Lapadula
We say: Genoa 2-1 Cagliari
With security virtually assured, Genoa has stalled in recent weeks, while Cagliari’s combativeness has sparked renewed interest. However, the hosts are hard to beat at Marassi and their Rossoblu rivals don’t tend to travel well.
For data analysis of most likely outcomes, scores and more for this match, please click here.
