Overview
Despite reaching victory twice, Genoa still lost 2 precious points at San Siro in a harsh way.
They took the lead thanks to Lorenzo Colombo's close-range finish - a player on loan from Milan - but then lost the advantage when conceding an equalizer in injury time in the second half. Not stopping there, Nicolae Stanciu also missed a penalty that could bring back 3 points.
As a result, Daniele De Rossi's team has only won 2 points after 5 matches since mid-December, thereby only slightly ahead of the relegation zone by a slim margin.
As the two lower-ranked teams, Hellas Verona and Fiorentina, begin to narrow the gap, the Liguria team is being pulled back to the danger zone. This is in contrast to the rapid promotion period in the rankings since De Rossi took over.
To avoid a relegation battle that lasts until the final round, Genoa must definitely improve their alarming home record. Since last season, they have only won 1/13 recent Serie A matches at Marassi, losing 8.
Therefore, in the context that Genoa is unbeaten in the last 9 home matches against Cagliari (7 wins), welcoming this opponent is considered a reasonable opportunity for them to "set back track".
In the opposite direction, Cagliari has generally only won 1/10 of their last matches against Genoa in Serie A, but they have drawn all 3 of their last matches. Including a dramatic 6-goal chase in November last year.
After another impressive comeback in the middle of the week, the island team of Sardinia is the team that earns the most points from losing matches in Serie A this season (11 points). In contrast, Genoa is in the group of losing the most points when they are the leading team (17 points).
Therefore, coach Fabio Pisacane's team has a basis to confidently extend the series of positive results away from home, after a 2-1 comeback victory over Torino before drawing with Cremonese.
In the most recent match, when being led by 2 goals, Cagliari played explosively in the second half. Michel Adopo narrowed the score to 1-2, before little-known young player Yael Trepy came on from the bench and scored the equalizer late in his debut match for the first team.
New coach Pisacane is still on the journey to bring Cagliari to relegation - aiming for a third consecutive season in Serie A. However, the reality is that they are still in a worrying position, close to the relegation zone when the new season has just passed halfway.
Personnel situation
Although Sebastian Otoa has fully recovered from a muscle injury that only allowed him to play from the bench at San Siro, Daniele De Rossi is likely to still maintain his belief in the current squad.
Jean Onana is preparing to return after the CAN Cup, when Cameroon stops in the quarter-finals. However, Genoa continues to have a headache because of the injury list, with Albert Gronbaek, Benjamin Siegrist, Maxwel Cornet and Junior Messias unable to play.
In attack, after scoring in 2 consecutive matches, Lorenzo Colombo is expected to continue to lead the home team's spearhead. Meanwhile, Cagliari's attacking personnel plan is still not really clear.
Semih Kilicsoy has impressed in recent weeks, but in the most recent match, Gennaro Borelli was the highest-scoring player. Angolan winger Zito Luvumbo was also given priority over Sebastiano Esposito.
Luvumbo has now recovered from a minor calf injury. Notably, he has scored 3 goals in four encounters with Genoa in Serie A - although all of those goals took place at home.
In the opposite direction, Cagliari continues to suffer force losses when injuries Alessandro Deiola, Andrea Belotti, Mattia Felici and Michael Folorunsho will have to watch the match from outside.
Expected lineup:
Leali, Marcandalli, Ostigard, Vazquez, Norton-Cuffy, Malinovskyi, Frendrup, Thorsby, Martin, Vitinha, Colombo.
Caprile, Rodriguez, Mina, Luperto, Palestra, Adopo, Prati, Mazzitelli, Obert, Esposito, Kilicsoy.
The match between Genoa and Cagliari takes place at 0:30 AM on January 13 (Vietnam time).
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