Overview
Last week, Roma dropped the 2-goal lead when facing Juventus - a direct competitor in the top 4 race. The capital team conceded twice in the final minutes and could only accept a draw in the dramatic home match.
Goals from Wesley, Evan N'Dicka and newcomer Donyell Malen helped Roma get one point after a match with 6 goals, thereby continuing to maintain their competitive position in the leading group.
After 27 rounds, Roma is currently 4 points ahead of Juventus - the team in sixth place. Como, a team that spends heavily this season, is between the two teams, making the race to win tickets to the Champions League next season extremely attractive.
Serie A defending champion Napoli is also involved in that fierce competition, while the two Milan teams are in a big advantage. Therefore, coach Gian Piero Gasperini's team is not allowed to stumble in the decisive stage of the season.
Besides Serie A, Roma has also won a ticket to the round of 16 of the Europa League and will face Bologna in the first leg next week. Before thinking about the European arena, they must complete their task in the domestic league.
Although only winning 3 points in seven encounters with teams in the top 5 Serie A this season, Roma has a very good record against teams in the bottom half of the table. In fact, only Inter Milan has won more points than them in matches against this group.
Notably, Roma has scored in the last 10 away games against Genoa in Serie A and has only lost one in the last 21 encounters between the two teams.
However, Genoa still shows that they can cause difficulties for the capital team. The home team at Luigi Ferraris has won 4 points in the last two times hosting Roma, including a surprise 4-1 victory in September 2023 and a 1-1 draw a year later. This is also Daniele De Rossi's last match as Roma head coach.
Currently, De Rossi is leading Genoa with the task of helping the team stay in Serie A. The former Italian national team midfielder once had a glorious career at Roma, but the coaching period at this team last season was not very successful.
In the upcoming match, De Rossi will face Gian Piero Gasperini - who has led Genoa in 297 matches in two different terms. Under Gasperini, the Liguria team once achieved the best record in Serie A and even won a ticket to the European Cup.
Currently, Genoa's only goal is to stay in the league. They have only won one of their last 5 matches, and the 0-2 defeat to Inter Milan last week only puts this team 3 points ahead of the relegation group.
However, Genoa's home form is quite positive. They have won 3 of their last 4 matches at Luigi Ferraris stadium, scoring at least 2 goals per match and having a total of 12 goals in their last 5 home matches.
Personnel situation
Roma continues to face difficulties in terms of force in attack when Paulo Dybala is preparing to have knee surgery. Besides, Evan Ferguson (ankle injury) and Artem Dovbyk (brother's injury) are also still unable to return to play.
In the context of personnel shortage, Donyell Malen almost became the number one choice in Giallorossi's attack. Although he only joined the team in mid-January, the Dutch striker quickly made his mark when he and Matias Soule led Roma's scoring list in Serie A with 6 goals.
On Genoa's side, Lorenzo Colombo is the biggest hope in attack. This striker has also scored 6 goals in Serie A this season, and it is noteworthy that all of them have come since Daniele De Rossi took over the team in November.
Expected lineup:
Bijlow, Marcandalli, Ostigard, Vasquez, Norton-Cuffy, Ellertsson, Frendrup, Malinovskyi, Martin, Vitinha, Colombo.
Svilar, Mancini, Ndicka, Ghilardi, Celik, Cristante, Kone, Rensch, Pisilli, Pellegrini, Malen.
The match between Genoa and Roma takes place at 0:00 AM on March 9th (Vietnam time).
