Aiming to maintain their sharp start to the new season, Genoa welcome Hellas Verona to Stadio Luigi Ferraris on Sunday.
While the Grifone remain unbeaten in league and cup, Hellas have taken three points from two tough fixtures to start their latest Serie A campaign.
Match preview
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After bravely fighting back to take a point against reigning champions Inter Milan on Serie A's opening matchday, Genoa followed up with a 1-0 win in Monza last weekend, despite seeing very little of the ball.
Summer signing Andrea Pinamonti - brought in to replace departed stars Albert Gudmundsson and Mateo Retegui - scored the only goal deep into first-half stoppage time, putting the Grifone on four points from two matches.
Each of Genoa's last 11 league goals have been scored by different players, with ex-Sassuolo striker Pinamonti becoming the latest - and eight have come at the Luigi Ferraris.
At the end of a successful comeback campaign in 2023-24, the Ligurian side stayed unbeaten through their final four home matches - winning three and scoring nine times in the process - and they also beat Reggiana there in a season-opening Coppa Italia tie.
Now, Gilardino's men will return to Marassi with the aim of becoming the first Genoa team to stay undefeated through the first three games of a Serie A campaign since 2011.
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Having lost both games to Genoa last season, Verona will be keen to end that trend on Sunday evening, following an eventful start to their 2024-25 campaign.
After exiting the Coppa Italia to Serie B side Cesena, the Scaligeri stunned fallen giants Napoli with a 3-0 win on the opening day, before suffering a reverse of that scoreline on Monday.
Coming up against Thiago Motta's new-look Juventus, they found themselves two goals down by half time at Stadio Bentegodi, where Juve ultimately emerged comfortable 3-0 winners.
Verona's first away fixture now takes them to the capital of Liguria, where they have beaten Genoa just twice in Serie A - and not at all since December 1989. In 32 top-flight meetings between the teams, Hellas have posted only nine wins.
However, after another interesting transfer window - which saw Dailon Livramento and Daniel Mosquera arrive at the club, with both scoring on their league debut - new coach Paolo Zanetti will hope to take that tally into double figures.
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Team News
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Genoa will have to make at least one change to a winning team this weekend, as an injury to Mattia Bani could see Alessandro Vogliacco - the Grifone's opening goalscorer on matchday one - return in defence.
Alan Matturro (shoulder), Alessandro Zanoli (muscular) and recent arrivals Fabio Miretti and Brooke Norton-Cuffy (both foot) are also unavailable.
Once again, Morten Frendrup and Milan Badelj should start in midfield, with Andrea Pinamonti and Vitinha receiving support from Junior Messias up front. The latter's last four Serie A strikes have all come in home games and within the last 10 minutes - including a late leveller against Inter.
Meanwhile, Verona may be almost unchanged too, despite their defeat last time out: only Suat Serdar and Juan Manuel Cruz are ruled out by injury.
Colombian striker Daniel Mosquera is again expected to beat Benfica loanee Casper Tengstedt to selection as the Scaligeri's central striker.
Genoa possible starting lineup:
Gollini; De Winter, Bani, Vasquez; Sabelli, Frendrup, Badelj, Martin; Messias; Vitinha, Pinamonti
Hellas Verona possible starting lineup:
Montipo; Tchatchoua, Coppola, Dawidowicz, Magnani; Belahyane, Duda; Livramento, Suslov, Lazovic; Mosquera
We say: Genoa 1-0 Hellas Verona
Verona's dismal away record against Genoa is set to continue, as the home side have impressed on home turf since returning to Serie A and are making a positive start to this season.
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Jonathan O'Shea
