Genoa may have new owners and Andriy Shevchenko as head coach, but the Grifone are no better than they were prior to the arrivals of the two parties.
The Grifone are 18th in Serie A and two points off of 17th-place Spezia. Genoa are on a 14-match Serie A winless streak. Each of their last three Serie A matches ended as defeats.
Lazio are also coming off of a loss. The Biancocelesti fell 2-1 to Lazio on Serie A matchday 18. Maurizio Sarri’s team led 1-0 at halftime only to conceded twice in the second half.
Sarri’s team is ninth in Serie A’s standings ahead of matchday 18. They have taken 25 points from 51 points available. Just five points currently separate Lazio from the Serie A top five.
Lazio have struggled to keep goals out under Sarri’s leadership. They have conceded the fifth-most goals in Serie A with 32. At the same time, Lazio have scored the fifth-most goals with 33.
Genoa have allowed the third-most goals this season with 34. The Grifone have scored the fourth-fewest goals with a mere 18. Genoa took a mere two points from the last 18 points available to them in Serie A. Lazio took seven points from the last 18 points on offer.
Lazio have won the last three matches at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome against Genoa. Last season, the Biancocelesti claimed a 4-3 win. The game was 2-0 at halftime in favour of Lazio before exploring with five more goals.
Last season’s game in Rome saw Joaquin Correa score twice. Ciro Immobile scored from the penalty spot. Immobile, a former Genoa player, also scored from the penalty spot in the reverse fixture at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris.
Sarri has two players that could miss the match for Lazio. Serge Milinkovic-Savic is suspended for the fixture. Bobby Adekanye is a doubt due to a knee injury, but could be passed fit ahead of Friday night’s match.
Shevchenko has three players on the injury list going into the fixture. Midfielders Nicolo Rovella and Mohamed Fares are both doubts to play due to injury. Forward Felipe Caicedo is nearing a return from a hamstring injury, but may not be fully fit to play.
Immobile scored from the penalty spot in each of the last two matches between these teams. The striker could score once more from the penalty spot against his former team.
Lazio are unbeaten in four straight games against Genoa with three of those matches ending in wins. The Biancocelesti should claim a win at home against Genoa.