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 of it.

At the Ennio Tardini, Parma and Genoa – both winless, both stuck in early-season mud – meet in gameweek five desperate for a first league victory of the 2026-27 campaign. It is not yet a crisis. It already feels like one.

Parma searching for a spark

Carlos Cuesta’s Parma have been living off a memory for a month. Their last win came back in mid-August, a 2-0 Coppa Italia success over Catania. Since then, the Emilians have lost four of five in all competitions and discovered just how punishing Serie A can be when the goals dry up.

The numbers tell the story. No goals in league defeats to Cagliari (1-0) and Juventus (2-0). Another blank in the Coppa Italia exit to Cremonese, also 2-0, at the start of September. Matches slipping away without much resistance on the scoreboard.

Only in the last two outings has something resembling a pulse returned. A 1-1 draw with Monza finally put a point on the board on matchday four, then came a narrow 2-1 loss to Champions League debutants Como on Monday night – a defeat, but at least a contest.

Cuesta has to cling to that. Parma sit 17th, level with Genoa on a meagre two league goals, and they have not beaten the Ligurian side in three years. Four games without a win against the Rossoblu hangs over this fixture like a cloud.

The personnel picture does not help. Hans Nicolussi Caviglia’s groin problem rules him out this weekend, the coach’s only confirmed absentee but a blow in terms of midfield options. More damaging is what is no longer there: last season’s nine-goal forward Mateo Pellegrino now leads the line for Fiorentina, leaving Parma without their proven match-winner.

Someone else has to step into the void. So far, only Simone Lontani and David Romero have scored in Serie A for the hosts after four gameweeks, a stark illustration of the attacking burden they carry. Both are expected to start again, likely ahead of a 3-4-2-1 or 3-4-1-2 structure built around energy and industry rather than star power.

A probable XI reads: Corvi; Delprato, Troilo, Carlos; Britschgi, Bernabe, Keita, Valeri; Toure, Lontani; Romero. Functional, hard-working, short on obvious cutting edge. The Tardini crowd will demand that changes.

De Rossi’s Genoa stuck in reverse

On the opposite bench stands Daniele De Rossi, still learning the brutality of life as a top-flight coach. The former World Cup-winning midfielder arrived as a symbol of fresh ideas and authority. The bounce did not last.

Genoa have not won a Serie A match in nine attempts under the Roma icon. Their last league victory was a 2-1 triumph over Pisa, who have since gone down. Since then: six defeats, three draws, and a slide to second-bottom after four games of the new season.

The midweek Coppa Italia win over Sudtirol offered a flicker of light. It was a result, a clean sheet, something to build on. Now comes the harder part: transferring that to the league.

The table is unforgiving but not yet definitive. A win in Emilia-Romagna could haul Genoa as high as 13th, depending on other results. To get there, they must fix problems at both ends.

Only two league goals scored – the joint-worst tally in the division, alongside Parma. Eight conceded – the fifth-highest total, behind Venezia, Monza and Fiorentina (all on 11), and Udinese (10). A team that does not score enough and concedes too many tends to end up exactly where Genoa currently are.

Even the cup hero will be missing. Johan Vasquez, who scored against Frosinone and then again to decide the Sudtirol tie in midweek, is suspended after picking up two yellow cards last weekend. His absence strips De Rossi of a rare source of goals and a key presence.

The injury list bites as well. Elias Havel (ankle) and Lorenzo Venturino (knee) are both out, trimming the coach’s options in the middle and final thirds.

That shifts the spotlight onto Milutin Osmajic. He is Genoa’s only other scorer this season, having found the net in the 4-1 defeat to Como in early September. It was a consolation on the night, but on Sunday he becomes central to any hope of breaking the drought.

De Rossi is likely to stick with a back three and wing-backs, asking intensity from his midfield and mobility from his front line. A projected lineup: Bijlow; Marcandalli, Ostigard, Otoa; Ehizibue, Frendrup, Sow, Ellertsson; Baldanzi; Osmajic, Colombo. On paper it has balance. On the pitch, it has not yet delivered.

A match on a knife-edge

The recent history between these two offers a clue to what may unfold. The last two meetings ended 0-0. Stalemates, short on risk and even shorter on inspiration.

All signs point in the same direction again. Both sides are among the league’s lowest scorers. Both carry the scars of early-season defeats. Both managers know that a single mistake could be the difference between a much-needed release and another week of tension.

Parma will try to feed off home support, to turn the Tardini into a lever rather than a weight. Genoa will lean on De Rossi’s personality and that midweek clean sheet, hoping it marks the start of a defensive reset.

Prediction: Parma 0-0 Genoa.

If that holds, it would be a third consecutive goalless draw between these clubs and another afternoon of frustration. The question is simple: who dares to break the pattern and change the story of their season?