Genoavs.Cagliari

A battle of the Rossoblu pits a home side that have almost confirmed safety against in-form Cagliari, whose recent form has pulled them clear of the drop zone.

Match preview

Occupying 12th place in the Serie A standings with only five games to go, Genoa's top-flight return can already be considered a success, and only a disastrous turn of events would see them slip through the relegation trapdoor.

Instead, Alberto Gilardino's side are hoping to end their comeback campaign on a high, although recent results have probably ended their pursuit of a place in the final top 10.

Following last week's loss to Lazio - who also knocked them out of the Coppa Italia earlier this season - they have picked up just six points from their last six games.

While Genoa have occasionally troubled the top sides - beating Roma and drawing with Inter Milan, Napoli and Juventus - their successes have largely come at the expense of teams around them in the table.

In meetings between sides currently outside Serie A's top 11, the Grifone have won most points so far (25); Monday's visitors are also faring well in that regard, as five of Cagliari's seven wins have been against such opponents.

Ahead of the teams' meeting at Marassi, Genoa's last three top-flight home games against the Sardinians have all produced a 1-0 win for the hosts - but they lost November's reverse fixture 2-1.

With only one clean sheet their last 20 Serie A matches against Genoa - and having failed to score in four of their last six - recent history will be against Cagliari coming out on top in their final April fixture.

However, Claudio Ranieri's side have embarked on a superb run of results against the odds, and now hold survival well within their grasp as the finish line approaches.

Having held mighty Inter Milan, after beating Atalanta BC 2-1 a week earlier, the Sardinian side almost stunned fallen giants Juventus last time out, when only a desperate late fightback from their visitors denied them maximum points.

Converted penalties by Gianluca Gaetano and Yerry Mina had put Cagliari in the driving seat, but they could not quite hold on; nonetheless, a 2-2 draw left them 14th in the table and four points above the relegation zone.

Unbeaten in four games, the Isolani now travel to the mainland, where they have won just one of their 16 away fixtures since achieving promotion: only Salernitana and Frosinone have picked up fewer points on the road, so victory at Marassi would represent something of a surprise.

Genoa Serie A form:

L

D

D

W

D

L

Cagliari Serie A form:

W

L

D

W

D

D

Team News

While Genoa will have Vitinha back in action following a leg injury, Mattia Bani, Ruslan Malinovskyi and Junior Messias are all set to miss out on Monday, alongside long-term absentee Alan Matturro.

Though he has recently featured in a deeper role, with Caleb Ekuban coming in to partner Italy striker Mateo Retegui up front, highly-rated forward Albert Gudmundsson is sure to start in the final third.

The latter scored in the reverse fixture against Cagliari, and has racked up 13 Serie A strikes so far this season, but the visitors have a potent threat of their own.

Rarely a starter, supersub Nicolas Viola has been directly involved in three goals in his last two top-flight games against Genoa, scoring one of his league-high five goals as a substitute versus the Grifone back in November.

As Zito Luvumbo must serve a suspension - and fellow forwards Andrea Petagna, Marco Mancosu and Leonardo Pavoletti are all ruled out by injury - Viola's chances of seeing some action are substantial.

However, Cagliari coach Claudio Ranieri will most likely pair Eldor Shomurodov with either Gianluca Gaetano or Gianluca Lapadula in attack.

Genoa possible starting lineup:

Martinez; Vogliacco, De Winter, Vasquez; Sabelli, Frendrup, Badelj, Martin; Gudmundsson; Ekuban, Retegui

Cagliari possible starting lineup:

Scuffet; Hatzdiakos, Mina, Dossena; Nandez, Deiola, Makoumbou, Sulemana, Augello; Shomorudov, Lapadula

We say: Genoa 2-1 Cagliari

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