Overview
Considered a key match, Pisa started 2026 with a away match against relegation contender Genoa, with the goal of finding their first away win since promotion.
Under increasing pressure, coach Alberto Gilardino faced his old team at the Stadio Ferraris. Pisa showed resilience when they came back to win 1 point, thereby narrowing the gap with Genoa to 3 points.
In the third finish in the match, Mehdi Leris punished the opponent's goalkeeper's mistake to equalize for Pisa right before halftime. This result also helped them have their fifth draw in the last six away trips.
Returning to their home field, Gilardino's team - which is lacking in goals - has only won 6/27 maximum points possible, and has only scored one goal.
Standing at the bottom of the table with the same Tuscany opponent Fiorentina, Pisa is facing the risk of only "bypassing" Serie A in a short time. However, they have only gone halfway through the first season of Serie A after three decades.
Meanwhile, thanks to significant investment, Como had an impressive comeback when closing last season in the top 10 of Italian football.
The representative of Lombardy will meet Pisa for the first time since the Serie B match in March 2024, when they won 3-1 at the Sinigaglia stadium. This time, Como expects to recreate that result right in Tuscany, in the context that they have a convincing start to the season. With 2 recent victories, Lariani is even ranked above Bologna, Lazio and Atalanta BC in the race to win tickets to the European Cup.
Opening the new year in a very impressive way, Como defeated Udinese with almost absolute control, only allowing the away team to launch exactly two shots in the 1-0 victory.
Therefore, after the 11-match unbeaten streak was cut off by two consecutive defeats against the "giants" Inter Milan and Roma, two victories against Lecce and Udinese have brought Cesc Fabregas's team to sixth place in the rankings.
Possessing a record of 8 clean sheets, Como is also one of the three rare teams still unbeaten at home. However, they revealed more fragility when leaving Sinigaglia, where away form is not really commensurate with their performance in their holy land.
Personnel situation
After entering the field from the bench at Genoa, M'Bala Nzola may return to Pisa's starting lineup, having served his Serie A suspension while playing for the Angolan national team in the African Cup.
However, Pisa is still out of strength as Ebenezer Akinsanmiro continues to be absent due to duty at AFCON with Nigeria. Besides, Juan Cuadrado, Mateus Lusuardi and Calvin Stengs are all unable to participate due to injury.
In the opposite direction, Como may use star Nico Paz - a player who is only fit enough to play from the bench in the match against Udinese. Diego Carlos is also ready to return after serving a one-match suspension.
Cesabregas will still lack Assane Diao, Alvaro Morata and Edoardo Goldaniga, while Jayden Addai leaves open the possibility of playing but may recover in time from a tendon injury.
In the context of Morata's absence, "mastermind" Nico Paz - who directly contributed to 10 goals in this season's tournament - is likely to play a key creative role, supporting Tasos Douvikas in Lariani's attack.
Expected lineup:
Semper, Canestrelli, Caracciolo, Bonfanti, Toure, Leris, Aebischer, Hojholt, Angori, Moreo, Nzola.
Butez, Smolcic, Ramon, Carlos, Valle, Da Cunha, Caqueret, Vojvoda, Paz, Rodriguez, Douvikas.
The match between Pisa and Como takes place at 9:00 PM on January 6 (Vietnam time).
