Genoa will be bidding to move out of the Serie A relegation zone on Friday evening when they welcome Sampdoria to Stadio Luigi Ferraris.
The home side are currently 19th in the division, having picked up just 10 points from their opening 16 matches of the season, while Sampdoria are 15th with 15 points to show from their first 16 games.
Match preview
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Genoa have been present in Italy's top flight since 2007, while they finished 11th last season, collecting 42 points from their 38 matches, which left them nine points clear of the relegation zone.
There is still a lot of football to be played this season, but it has been a tough 2021-22 to date for the Red and Blues, who are currently in the relegation zone, having picked up just 10 points from their first 16 games.
Genoa have managed just one league victory this term, while they will enter Friday's contest off the back of successive losses to AC Milan and Juventus, conceding five times and failing to score in the process.
Andriy Shevchenko was appointed head coach last month, but it has been a tough start for the Ukrainian, picking up just one point from his four matches at the helm, although the team's three defeats have been against Roma, AC Milan and Juventus.
Genoa would move out of the relegation zone if they manage to triumph on Friday, and Il Grifone are unbeaten in their last three matches with Sampdoria at this level of football.
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Sampdoria, meanwhile, have also lost their last two matches against Fiorentina and Lazio, but they did record back-to-back wins over Salernitana and Verona towards the end of November.
La Samp have finished ninth in Serie A in two of the last three seasons, while they have been present at this level since 2012, but a disappointing start to the 2021-22 campaign has left them in 15th spot in the table.
Indeed, Roberto D'Aversa's side have won four, drawn three and lost nine of their 16 league games this season to collect 15 points, and they are only five points above their opponents here.
Sampdoria have not had many issues finding the back of the net this season, scoring 22 times in their 16 matches, but they have found it difficult to keep teams out down the other end, conceding 32 goals, which is the third-worst defensive record in the division behind Salernitana (33) and Spezia (36).
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Team News
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Genoa will again be missing Stefano Sturaro, Nicolo Rovella, Felipe Caicedo, Domenico Criscito, Mattia Destro, Mohamed Fares and Nikola Maksimovic through injury on Friday.
Head coach Shevchenko will have been encouraged with what he saw against Juventus for long stages, so it would not be a surprise to see the same XI take to the field for this match considering the injury situation.
The hosts should also continue in a 3-5-2 formation, with Caleb Ekuban and Flavio Bianchi featuring as the front two, as Caicedo and Destro remain unavailable for selection.
As for Sampdoria, Ernesto Torregrossa, Mikkel Damsgaard and Ronaldo Vieira remain on the treatment table, but Omar Colley is available, having served a one-game suspension against Lazio.
Colley will return at the heart of the away side's defence, but the team is otherwise expected to be similar to the one that took to the field against Lazio last time out.
Manolo Gabbiadini and Fabio Quagliarella have only netted three league goals between them this season but are set to feature as the front two once again in a 4-4-2 formation.
Genoa possible starting lineup:
Sirigu; Vasquez, Bani, Biraschi; Ghiglione, Toure, Behrami, Hernani, Cambiaso; Bianchi, Ekuban
Sampdoria possible starting lineup:
Audero; Bereszynski, Colley, Ferrari, Augello; Candreva, Ekdal, Thorsby, Verre; Gabbiadini, Quagliarella
We say: Genoa 1-1 Sampdoria
This is a big match for both sides, and it will be fascinating to see what occurs on Friday. Genoa would move out of the relegation zone with all three points, but it is difficult to back them with any real confidence at the moment, so we have had to settle on a low-scoring draw, which would be a frustrating result for both managers.
Top tip
Matt Law
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 Sampdoria win with a probability of 42.82%. A win for Genoa had a probability of 30.94% and a draw had a probability of 26.2%.
The most likely scoreline for a Sampdoria win was 0-1 with a probability of 10.72%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-2 (8.85%) and 0-2 (7.6%). The likeliest Genoa win was 1-0 (8.81%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.48%). The actual scoreline of 1-3 was predicted with a 4.2% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Sampdoria would win this match.
