Genoa and Salernitana, 19th and 20th in the Serie A standings, meet in the second round of the Coppa Italia at the Luigi Ferraris Stadium on Tuesday.
Genoa are winless across all competitions since September and faced their third defeat in a row as they were beaten 3-1 at home by local rivals Sampdoria in the Derby Della Lanterna on Saturday.
Salernitana's return to the Italian top-flight has not been smooth and they also suffered a third defeat in a row as Fiorentina eased past them with a 4-0 win on Saturday.
The hosts secured a place in the second round with a 3-2 win over Serie B side Perugia while Salernitana overcame Reggina with a 2-0 win.
Genoa vs Salernitana Head-to-Head
There have been 31 meetings between the two sides across all competitions. The head-to-head record is perfectly even at this point, with 12 wins for both sides and seven games ending in draws.
This will be the first meeting in the Coppa Italia between the two sides as most of the encounters in this fixture have come in Serie B.
They last met in Serie A action in October at Stadio Arechi, Salernitana recording their first win of the campaign in that game as Milan Duric scored the only goal of the encounter. That game was their first meeting in 15 years.
Genoa form guide (Serie A): L-L-L-D-L
Salernitana form guide (Serie A): L-L-L-D-L
Genoa vs Salernitana Team News
Genoa
Felipe Caicedo has been ruled out with a hamstring injury. There has been news that he might be transferred out in the January transfer window, so he won't make an appearance here. Here are the rest of the absentees for the Grifone:
- Mohamed Fares - Calf injury
- Nicolò Rovella - Muscle injury
- Nikola Maksimovic - Thigh injury
Injured: Nicolo Rovella, Felipe Caicedo, Mohamed Fares
Doubtful: Nikola Maksimovic
Suspended: None
Salernitana
Leonardo Capezzi picked up a muscle injury in training ahead of the Serie A game with Fiorentina and is expected to sit this one out as well. Here are the rest of the absentees for I Granata:
- Matteo Ruggeri - Thigh injury
- Antonio Russo - Finger injury
- Mamadou Coulibaly - Undisclosed
- Stefan Strandberg - Muscle injury
- Cedric Gondo - Thigh injury
- Milan Đurić - In quarantine after exposure to COVID-19
Injured: Stefan Strandberg, Antonio Russo, Matteo Ruggari, Mamadou Coulibaly, Leonardo Capezzi
Doubtful: Cedric Gondo
Suspended: None
Unavailable: Milan Duric (In quarantine)
Genoa vs Salernitana Predicted XI
Genoa Predicted XI (3-5-2): Salvatore Sirigu; Zinho Vanheusden, Johan Vásquez, Domenico Criscito; Paolo Ghiglione, Hernani, Stefano Sturaro, Milan Badelj, Andrea Cambiaso; Caleb Ekuban, Goran Pandev
Salernitana Predicted XI (4-4-1-1): Vid Belec; Frederic Veseli, Norbert Gyomber, Riccardo Gagliolo, Luca Ranieri; Lassana Coulibaly, Francesco Di Tacchio, Grigoris Kastanos, Joel Obi; Franck Ribéry; Simeon Nwankwo
Genoa vs Salernitana Prediction
Genoa and Salernitana have faced some defensive issues in their campaign so far and have conceded 34 and 37 goals in Serie A respectively. Salernitana are also the lowest-scoring side in the Italian top-flight, finding the back of the net 11 times in 17 games.
Genoa are winless at home since their Coppa Italia win in September while the visiting side have just one win to their name in their travels. We expect the game to be a close one but a win for the hosts is the most likely outcome here.
Prediction: Genoa 2-1 Salernitana