Continuing their impressive comeback campaign, mid-table Genoa welcome Serie A strugglers Udinese to Stadio Luigi Ferraris on Saturday.
While the Grifone held reigning champions Napoli to a draw last time out and are closing in on safety, their visitors have won just three times all season and are scrapping to avoid relegation.
Match preview
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Showing great resilience to bounce straight back from their first defeat since December, Genoa almost upset ailing Napoli last weekend, before having to settle for a single point at Stadio Maradona.
Extending their unbeaten streak on the road to four matches, Alberto Gilardino's men led for most of the second half following Morten Frendrup's strike shortly after the break, but conceding a late leveller ultimately deprived them of victory.
Nonetheless, Genoa still sit just six points behind the Scudetto-holders and have a healthy 10-point buffer between themselves and the drop zone, so an immediate return to Serie B seems unlikely.
Victory this week would see the Ligurian club post their second-best performance at this stage of a post-promotion season, and Gilardino has certainly forged a well-drilled unit this term.
A 4-1 home defeat to Atalanta BC is the Grifone's only loss across their last 10 league matches, so they may be confident of overcoming their recent inferiority to Udinese, who they have beaten just once in the clubs' last nine meetings at Marassi.
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Undefeated in 13 top-flight matches against Genoa, winning six times and drawing each of the last four, Udinese will arrive in Liguria with history on their side - but that may count for little, given this season's struggles.
One of the rare highlights of a difficult campaign came in the Bianconeri's last away fixture, which saw them stun title contenders Juventus in Turin; however, they were brought back to reality last Sunday, when failing to see off lowly Cagliari on home turf.
Following a 1-1 stalemate with the Sardinian side, which again featured their inability to retain a lead, Udinese have drawn no fewer than 14 of 25 league games this term, causing immense frustration for embattled coach Gabriele Cioffi.
With only a three-point cushion separating them from the drop zone, Udinese's long-held Serie A status is far from secure: despite finishing inside the bottom half for the past 10 years, the Fruilani have been part of the furniture in Italy's top flight since 1995.
Relying heavily on lone striker Lorenzo Lucca to produce the goals to fire them to safety, Cioffi's side rarely find the net more than once per game - and Genoa have outscored them so far this season.
Team News
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As only Uruguayan defender Alan Matturro is sidelined by injury for Genoa, Alberto Gilardino has an almost full squad at his disposal this weekend; therefore, changes to the starting XI that lined up against Napoli may be minimal.
Kevin Strootman, Ruslan Malinovskyi and Vitinha will all aim to be promoted from the bench, though the latter's hopes are slim due to the partnership between Italy striker Mateo Retegui and Iceland international Albert Gudmundsson up front.
Gudmundsson scored his only Serie A brace in October's reverse fixture - which ended 2-2 after a late Matturro own goal - and is one strike away from reaching double figures for the season.
Meanwhile, Udinese's Lorenzo Lucca scored his first goal for the Fruilani in that same match, and with nine goal involvements this term (six of his own and three assists) he has been their most potent player.
Spanish star Gerard Deulofeu this week spoke of his possible retirement after failing to recover fully from an ACL rupture, while Enzo Ebosse is another long-term absentee; Jaka Bijol will not return from his foot injury until next month.
Captain Roberto Pereyra is a doubt, too, so French forward Florian Thauvin may support Lucca in the visitors' attack.
Genoa possible starting lineup:
Martinez; De Winter, Bani, Vasquez; Sabelli, Frendrup, Badelj, Messias, Martin; Gudmundsson; Retegui
Udinese possible starting lineup:
Okoye; Perez, Giannetti, Kristensen; Ebosele, Lovric, Walace, Samardzic, Zemura; Thauvin; Lucca
We say: Genoa 1-1 Udinese
A fifth straight league draw between these clubs could be on the cards at Marassi, as neither side is particularly prolific, and they are well-matched in many respects.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Jonathan O'Shea
