Parma vs Genoa: Battle of Serie A Strugglers
Two of Serie A’s strugglers walk into the same storm on Sunday. Only one might walk out with a first league win of the season.
At the Ennio Tardini, Parma and Genoa — both still winless in Serie A — collide in gameweek five, carrying the weight of slow starts, blunt attacks and restless expectations.
Parma searching for a spark
You can frame Parma’s situation however you like. Glass half-full: they have finally stopped the rot. Half-empty: they still cannot win.
Carlos Cuesta’s side have not tasted victory since mid-August, when a 2-0 Coppa Italia success over Catania briefly hinted at momentum. Since then, four defeats in five across all competitions have dragged the mood down, with the most damning trend coming in front of goal.
They failed to score in league losses to Cagliari (1-0) and Juventus (2-0), then went out of the cup with another 2-0 defeat, this time to Cremonese at the start of September. Three games, no goals, no way through.
The pressure finally eased, slightly, on matchday four. A 1-1 draw with Monza brought Parma their first Serie A point of the campaign. It was not pretty, but it was something. Then came Monday night and a narrow 2-1 loss to Champions League debutants Como — a defeat, yes, but at least a performance with more edge and resistance.
That is the thin thread Cuesta must cling to now: signs of life in the last two outings. Parma have not beaten Genoa in three years and are on a four-match winless run against the Ligurians, yet they come into this one needing to turn encouraging fragments into a complete, ruthless display.
The problem is obvious. With last season’s nine-goal forward Mateo Pellegrino now at Fiorentina, the cutting edge has gone with him. After four league games, only Simone Lontani and David Romero have scored for the Emilians. Two scorers, two goals, and a team still stuck on the margins in 17th place.
Cuesta’s selection choices are at least straightforward. Hans Nicolussi Caviglia misses out with a groin issue, but that is the coach’s only confirmed absentee.
Parma are expected to line up with Corvi in goal behind a back three of Delprato, Troilo and Carlos. Britschgi, Bernabe, Keita and Valeri should stretch the pitch across midfield, with Toure supporting Lontani and Romero up front — the trio who must somehow turn half-chances into something more tangible.
De Rossi’s Genoa stuck in neutral
On the opposite bench stands Daniele De Rossi, still building his reputation as a coach and currently discovering the hard side of Serie A life.
Genoa arrive in Emilia-Romagna with their own burden: nine league matches without a win under the former World Cup winner. The early surge under the Roma icon has faded into a stubborn, grinding run of six defeats and three draws, a sequence that has dragged the Grifone to second-bottom after four games of this campaign.
Their last Serie A victory came against Pisa, now relegated, in a 2-1 success that feels a long time ago. Since then, the league has been unforgiving. De Rossi’s side have struggled at both ends, and the table does not lie.
Genoa have scored only two league goals this season — the same meagre tally as Parma. No team in the division has managed fewer. At the back, they have conceded eight, the fifth-worst record in the league, behind Venezia, Monza and Fiorentina (all on 11) and Udinese (10). That combination is a recipe for trouble.
Just when the numbers threatened to overwhelm them, a small shaft of light appeared. Genoa beat Sudtirol in the domestic cup in midweek and, crucially, kept their first clean sheet of the season in any competition. It was not a turning point yet, but it was at least a sign that De Rossi’s work on the training ground is beginning to register.
Now comes the real test: can the Rossoblu carry that defensive discipline into the league and finally end a winless run that has stretched to 10 Serie A games?
They will have to do it without one of their most decisive players in recent days. Johan Vasquez, who scored against Frosinone and then struck the winner versus Sudtirol, is suspended after picking up two yellow cards last weekend. His absence strips Genoa of a key figure in both penalty areas.
Injury problems add to the complication. Elias Havel (ankle) and Lorenzo Venturino (knee) are both sidelined, limiting De Rossi’s options as he searches for the right blend.
The responsibility in attack shifts squarely onto Milutin Osmajic. He is the only other Genoa player to have found the net this term, scoring in the 4-1 loss to Como in early September. He is expected to lead the line again, desperate to add to that solitary strike.
Genoa should set up with Bijlow in goal, protected by a back three of Marcandalli, Ostigard and Otoa. Ehizibue and Ellertsson offer width, with Frendrup and Sow battling in central midfield. Baldanzi will operate between the lines behind Osmajic and Colombo, the front pairing tasked with dragging Genoa out of their slump.
A tense, narrow contest in store
Put the numbers together and the picture is clear. Two teams with two goals each. Two attacks short on confidence. Two coaches searching for a formula that sticks.
Parma have home advantage and a slightly more coherent recent performance level. Genoa bring the morale boost of a midweek cup win and a first clean sheet of the season. Both, though, carry the same problem: turning possession and territory into real, decisive moments.
The last two league meetings between these clubs finished 0-0. The signs point toward another tight, cagey battle, with fear of losing almost as strong as the desire to win.
Prediction: Parma 0-0 Genoa.
If that stalemate does play out, neither side will feel any closer to an answer — and the questions hanging over their seasons will only grow louder.
