Cagliari will be looking to claim a crucial three points when they travel to Genoa’s Stadio Luigi Ferraris on Saturday evening.
Zdenek Zeman’s side are currently sitting in penultimate place in the Serie A table whilst Gian Piero Gasperini’s Genoa are sitting comfortably in the middle of the standings.
The Sardinians are currently two places and five points adrift of safety whilst Genoa are in tenth position and also ten points adrift of the Europa League places.
Genoa have had a positive season overall but their hopes of qualifying for European football have taken a dent with a dip in form that has seen them winless in their last five games. Three of those matches have been drawn. Last Saturday’s match saw them take the lead against Udinese only to be pegged back in the second half and the match finish 1-1.
Gasperini’s side started the first half of the season in excellent form and were on the fringes of the Champions League positions at one stage, however they have been unable to sustain those performances over the last six weeks.
Cagliari meanwhile re-appointed Zdenek Zeman as coach in March, but have struggled to find any real form under the enigmatic Czech.
Like their opponents this weekend they are also without a win in their last five games, but crucially they have lost four of those games meaning relegation is a real possibility. They were brushed aside 3-1 by in form Lazio in their last Serie A encounter.
The Sardinians have not shown any evidence of being able to reverse their fortunes and their displays have not shown any of the intensity or attacking intent you would expect from a side coached by Zeman.
They have an almost fully fit squad to select from with only young midfielder Godfred Donsah and Marco Capuano on the treatment table. Marco Sau is expected to lead the line in attack.
Genoa have a lengthy list of absentees including goalkeeper Mattia Perin, influential midfielder Andrea Bertolacci and defenders Giovanni Marchese, Lorenzo Ariaudo and Luca Antonini.
Marco Borriello will be competing with M’Baye Niang for the central striking role with Iago Falque and the influential Diego Perotti providing support from the flanks.
Eugenio Lamanna will continue in-goal in the absence of Perin.
Form Guide: Genoa (D-L-L-D-D) Cagliari (L-L-D-L-L)
Expected Starting XIs
Genoa: Lamanna; Roncaglia, Burdisso, De Maio; Edenilson; Tino Costa, Rincon, Bergdich; Iago Falque, Borriello, Perotti
Cagliari: Brkic; Balzano, Rossettini, Diakite, Avelar; Dessena , Crisetig, Joao Pedro; Farias, Sau, Mpoku
