The 100th Serie A meeting between Genoa and Torino will take place at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris on Friday night.
Both sides came away with a point against top-six opposition last time out, with Genoa drawing at Atalanta BC, while Torino held title challengers Inter Milan.
Match preview
© Reuters
Genoa became just the second Serie A club in the last 30 years to draw seven successive matches following their stalemate away at Atalanta last weekend.
The Rossoblu have now drawn 16 top-flight games this season, three more than any other team in Europe's top five leagues, and while remaining unbeaten is certainly a positive to take away from their current run, victories are required if they are to avoid the drop.
Alexander Blessin's men have now failed to win any of their last 25 Serie A matches – their one and only victory this season dating back to September 12 against Cagliari – and they are sitting six points adrift of safety with nine games remaining.
Genoa's chances of ending their torrid run could prove challenging on Friday, as they face a Torino outfit who they have failed to beat in each of their last 10 games against them across all competitions, including defeats in each of their last four on home soil.
© Reuters
Torino have also struggled for victories of late, though their drought is a mere seven games compared with Genoa's winless run of 25 matches.
Defeat at home to Cagliari and a draw with Bologna will have frustrated Ivan Juric, and while a 1-1 draw at home against Inter Milan last weekend would seem to have been a positive result, Il Toro could have come away with all three points had it not been for Alexis Sanchez scoring a 93rd-minute equaliser.
That result leaves Torino 11th in Serie A, 13 points above the relegation zone and the same number of points behind the top six, so a mid-table finish seems to be on the cards this season.
Torino will have few complaints with their current position, considering they were fighting against relegation last season. This term, they have accumulated 35 points from their 28 games, 11 more than at this stage of last season.
Hopes of a top-10 finish are still on for Il Toro with nine games remaining, and victory against Genoa on Friday could act as a springboard for a strong run of form as they aim to finish the campaign on a high.
- D
- D
- D
- D
- D
- D
- L
- L
- D
- L
- D
- D
Team News
© Reuters
Genoa will be without Domenico Criscito, Caleb Ekuban (both muscle), Zinho Vanheusden, Andrea Cambiaso (both knee) and Roberto Piccoli (thigh) due to injury.
Bayer Leverkusen loanee Nadiem Amiri is doubtful with a calf problem which he sustained against Atalanta last weekend, and he could be replaced in the first XI by Albert Gudmundsson.
Stefano Sturaro and Nicolo Rovella are both available after serving one-match suspensions and one of them is set to replace Pablo Galdames in centre-midfield.
As for Torino, Koffi Djidji (hamstring), Dennis Praet (foot), Pietro Pellegri (knee), Vanja Milinkovic-Savic (finger) and Mohamed Fares (muscle) are all sidelined with injuries.
Simone Zaza has missed the last two games due to illness and he will be assessed ahead of kickoff to see if he can feature on Friday.
Captain Andrea Belotti is set to lead the line, with support to be provided in attack by advanced midfielders Josip Brekalo and Tommaso Pobega.
Genoa possible starting lineup:
Sirigu; Hefti, Maksimovic, Ostigaard, Vasquez; Sturaro, Badelj; Gudmundsson, Melegoni, Portanova; Yeboah
Torino possible starting lineup:
Berisha; Buongiorno, Bremer, Rodriguez; Singo, Mandragora, Lukic, Vojvoda; Pobega, Brekalo; Belotti
We say: Genoa 1-0 Torino
While Torino have all but sealed their top-flight status for another season, the pressure is on Genoa to claim three valuable points as they bid to steer themselves clear of danger.
A low-scoring affair could be on the cards at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris, and even though there is little to separate the two teams, we are backing the hosts to end their 25-game winless run with a slender success on Friday.
Top tip
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Torino win with a probability of 41.11%. A win for Genoa had a probability of 31.67% and a draw had a probability of 27.2%.
The most likely scoreline for a Torino win was 0-1 with a probability of 11.47%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-2 (8.5%) and 0-2 (7.57%). The likeliest Genoa win was 1-0 (9.76%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.88%). The actual scoreline of 1-0 was predicted with a 9.8% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole correctly predicted a 1-0 win for Genoa in this match.
