Still winless in Serie A, Genoa will try to build on their strong performance in the Coppa Italia 1/16 finals when they meet equally struggling Lazio on Monday evening.
Thursday’s Coppa Italia triumph over last season’s semi-finalists Empoli was a breath of fresh air for the Griffin, who remain winless in the elite after the first four rounds. They came close last week but allowed Bologna to come back from behind in the final 20 minutes. Goals have been a deficit for Genoa, as they only managed to score two in Serie A to date, which cost them points against Lecce and Como, where they also had every chance to come out winning.
As for Lazio, the season so far has been just as slow. The Eagles can boast one win in four rounds, but the harsh reality is they lost the other three. And the worst part is they couldn’t score in any of those games. Losing the Derby della Capitale is always a possibility, but losing to newcomers Sassuolo is unacceptable for Maurizio Sari’s side. After missing out on Europe because of their worse goal difference, Lazio have no excuses not to be a serious challenger for the top spots this season.
How the bookies view it: Extremely tight
Bookies had difficulties naming a clear favourite, but ended up giving Lazio a slight edge. You can currently back Genoa at 2/1, while Lazio are available at 31/20. Interestingly, the draw is fairly low-priced at 2/1 too.
Recent head-to-head: Lazio won four without conceding
This rivalry has been all about Lazio over the past few seasons. The Eagles won the last four encounters and more importantly – didn’t concede a single goal. Genoa’s last win over this opponent was in 2023, when they won 1-0 away at Stadio Olimpico. But wait until you hear this – Genoa last beat Lazio at their own Stadio Luigi Ferraris in 2019. And since then, Lazio won four times and one game ended level.
Players to watch: Zaccagni is a universal option
This is a horrible match for goalscorer bets, as both sides have had goals in short supply. And Maurizio Sari’s squad is severely damaged with more than half of his midfielders in the treatment room. After some digging, we can put Mattia Zaccagni’s name forward, and he is a valid pick for most of the usual player markets.
Last season, he contributed to 14 of Lazio’s Serie A goals, while also being one of the team’s most booked players with 10 yellow cards. But the Eagles have played very clean football this season overall, so we’d rather go for Betano’s 9/4 for him to score or assist in this match.
Probable line-ups
Genoa: Leali, Martin, Saquez, Ostigard, Norton-Cuffy, Frendrup, Masini, Malinovskyi, Carboni, Ellertsson, Colombo
Lazio: Provedel, Tavares, Romagnoli, Gila, Marusic, Basic, Cataldi, Pedro, Zaccagni, Dia, Castellanos
Anything else catch the eye?
It would take an hour to list all of Lazio’s absences for this game. The Eagles will have to cope without key figures like Nicolo Rovella, Matteo Guendouzi, Matias, Vecino, and Fisayo Dele-Bashiru. This and the fact Lazio failed to score in three out of four rounds makes us believe that we will watch a very underwhelming fixture with few or even no goals.
Genoa also currently lack the firepower and we don’t expect much from them either. This will either be a 0-0 stalemate or the points will go to the team that scores first. And we have a feeling that the better-rested Lazio could find a way to score and claim the spoils, even with the hole in their midfield.
GambleAware