Daniele De Rossi makes his home debut for Genoa on Saturday when the third-bottom Serie A club host the bottom-placed Hellas Verona at Stadio Luigi Ferraris in the 12th round.
Two places separate the struggling clubs in the table ahead of this weekend, although the hosts from Liguria are in better form after going three games unbeaten, while Verona are still winless this season.
Match preview
Genoa twice led and trailed against Cagliari last time out before ending with a thrilling 3-3 draw, extending their unbeaten run to three matches, after losing four of their previous five and six of their first nine.
That start cost Patrick Vieira his job in Liguria, with De Rossi since taking over the Rossoblu for the first time in the 12th round after the team had secured four points from six before he took over.
After previously struggling for goals this season, the Griffin have scored seven in their last three games after initially hitting the target just four times in their opening nine league matches.
Two of those strikes came in their 2-2 draw with Fiorentina before the November international break, marking the Rossoblu’s first goals at Marassi this season.
After ending their home drought on the sixth attempt, De Rossi’s prolific side now aim to inflict more misery on their winless visitors from Veneto as they hope to possibly leave the bottom three, overtaking either Pisa or Lecce, who sit two points above them in the standings.
© Imago / Gribaudi-ImagePhoto
Survival hopes look bleak for Verona after every round, especially since Paolo Zanetti’s team still cannot secure a win heading into gameweek 13.
The Yellow and Blues’ last Serie A victory was on the final weekend of the previous season, when they beat Empoli 2-1 at the Castellani.
Twelve league games have passed since that narrow success, with the Mastini unable to clinch maximum points in the league, leaving them bottom of the table and four points from safety heading into this weekend.
While they cannot climb out of the bottom three with a win, they risk falling further behind in the battle to stay in the division, emphasising the importance of success on Saturday.
The travelling supporters can, however, draw encouragement from the corresponding fixture last season, when their team secured a 2-0 victory, albeit way back in September 2024.
A repeat of that triumph requires Verona to improve on their meagre two goals in six away games and prevent conceding even more than the 10 they have so far let in on their travels.
Genoa Serie A form:
Hellas Verona Serie A form:
Team News
© Imago
Brooke Norton-Cuffy was sent off for receiving a second yellow card late in the game against Cagliari, leaving Genoa to navigate this weekend without their wide defender.
A few players are unavailable to De Rossi due to injury: Maxwel Cornet (thigh), Junior Messias (muscle), Jean Onana (thigh) and Hugo Cuenca (muscle).
Leo Ostigard somehow manages to keep scoring or assisting, with his latest against Cagliari meaning he has scored in three consecutive league games, bringing the centre-back to four goal involvements during this period.
While only Ostigard has scored more than once for the hosts this season, Verona have three players on two goals: Suat Serdar, Giovane and Gift Orban.
However, Serdar is out with a knee injury, thus joining Jean-Daniel Akpa Akpro and Tomas Suslov (knee) on the sidelines; Grigoris Kastanos is carrying a knock that will be assessed before Saturday.
Giovane remains the club’s star forward, although he must find a way to influence away games, as only one of his five direct contributions has been away from home: against Udinese in August.
That inability to impact matches outside Veneto explains why they have fired blanks in four of six away matches in 2025-26, a statistic they aim to improve this weekend.
Genoa possible starting lineup:
Leali; Marcandalli, Ostigard, Vazquez; Sabelli, Malinovskyi, Frendrup, Thorsby, Martin; Colombo, Vitinha
Hellas Verona possible starting lineup:
Montipo; Bella-Kotchap, Nelson, Frese; Belghali, Harroui, Gagliardini, Bernede, Bradaric; Giovane, Orban
We say: Genoa 2-1 Hellas Verona
Since Verona’s main threats are unable to influence away games, Genoa should be confident of securing the win this weekend, even if the visitors manage to score once against this Grifone defence.
De Rossi’s team have scored at least two goals in their last three matches, and another pair should suffice against the league’s bottom side.
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