Overview
Since Daniele De Rossi took over the leadership of Genoa, this team has undergone a clear transformation, with the eighth best performance in Serie A, and also owning the fourth most effective attack in the same period.
Currently 9 points ahead of the relegation zone, Grifone has won 3 of their last 4 matches in the national championship - the same number as their previous 12 matches. Including notable victories against Roma and Hellas Verona.
After shocking De Rossi's old club a week ago, Genoa continued to extend their impressive streak with a victory over Verona, thanks to goals in the second half from Vitinha and center-back Leo Ostigard.
The Liguria team now has the opportunity to win three consecutive victories in Serie A for the first time under De Rossi, although the last time they did this was in 2021.
Some factors are supporting Genoa before this weekend's match, especially the fact that they have won 4 of their last 5 home matches. Besides, with an unbeaten record in the last 8 matches against Udinese - including 4 consecutive wins - Grifone has every reason to expect to win all 3 points and surpass their opponent in the upcoming match.
In fact, Udinese has not even scored any goals in the last three away games at the Stadio Ferraris, and has only won a meager point.
Meanwhile, the Friuli team - which also lost the first leg this season - is showing signs of decline, affecting the goal of competing for a position in the top 10.
With 4 defeats in the last 6 matches, only Cagliari and Cremonese won fewer points in the same period, causing Udinese to drop to 11th place in the Serie A standings.
Last week, they continued to disappoint when losing 0-1 at home to Juventus, in a match where the game almost completely leaned towards the opponent.
However, after almost relegation in 2024, Udinese is still maintaining a relatively safe mid-table position and staying away from the dangerous zone for the second consecutive season.
Personnel situation
Although Ruslan Malinovskyi, Junior Messias and Caleb Ekuban all suffered minor injuries in the match against Verona, all three are expected to recover in time. Therefore, Jean Onana became the only player absent from Genoa.
Midfielder Patrizio Masini is also ready to return after serving a one-match suspension, thereby helping the home team have more options in midfield.
Under Daniele De Rossi, Grifone's attack is showing explosive performance. Lorenzo Colombo has scored 6 goals in Serie A, while Vitinha has also scored in 2 recent consecutive matches.
In the opposite direction, Udinese striker Keinan Davis currently has 9 goals in the national championship. After fully recovering from injury, the English player has directly participated in one goal in each of the last 3 away matches.
Davis is expected to continue playing alongside Nicolo Zaniolo in attack, in the context that Adam Buksa is out of action due to a calf injury. The English striker is currently aiming for a two-digit goal milestone this season.
In addition to Buksa, Udinese is also missing Nicolo Bertola, Jordan Zemura and Alessandro Zanoli due to injuries. However, they may welcome the return of key defender Oumar Solet, who is likely to be in the starting lineup after 3 absences.
Expected lineup:
Genoa: Bijlow, Marcandalli, Ostigard, Vasquez, Norton-Cuffy, Frendrup, Malinovskyi, Messias, Ellertsson, Vitinha, Colombo.
Udinese: Okoye, Kristensen, Kabasele, Solet, Ehizibue, Ekkelenkamp, Karlstrom, Atta, Kamara, Zaniolo, Davis.
The match between Genoa and Udinese takes place at 2:45 am on March 21 (Vietnam time).
