Seventh-placed Genoa will be eager to end a six-match winless run when they host Fiorentina at their Stadio Luigi Ferraris and ensure they remain close to the European positions. Viola have finally started showing some improvement and they will see this match as a good opportunity to further close the gap behind their top 3 rivals.

Brilliant run comes to an end

With Genoa spending large periods of the last few campaigns in and around the bottom three, many were surprised to see Gian Piero Gasperini’s charges doing so well at the start of the new season. Nevertheless, the Rossoblu’s positive approach yielded excellent results in the first part of the campaign, with the team even sitting in Europa League positions at one point in time. Genoa have since suffered a serious dip in form, having failed to win any of their last six league matches, but their fixtures have remained as entertaining as ever. But, with the back line conceding a total of 13 goals during that period, the players have nobody else to blame but themselves for the barren run. Even if top scorer Alessandro Matri remains on the sidelines, Genoa have reason for optimism ahead of the Fiorentina clash seeing as they have been scoring goals for fun from the very start to the season. Beating in-form Viola will be no easy task unless the hosts show a massive improvement at the back, but they can be trusted to score a goal or two at their Luigi Ferraris.

Important players Luca Antonelli and Andrea Bertolacci are banned, whilst Alessandro Matri, Tino Costa and Giovanni Marchese are out injured.

Alberto Gilardino returns

Unlike their next opponents, Fiorentina have experienced all sorts of problems this term, and not so long ago it looked as though they were out of contention for Champions League positions. The Europa League campaign seems to have taken the wind out of team’s sails, and Viola indeed showed a lot of improvement once the group stage of the European competition came to an end. While recording a comfortable Coppa Italia win over Atalanta, Fiorentina defeated Palermo and Chievo in the league before sharing spoils with title chasers Roma. With Giuseppe Rossi and Federico Bernardeschi still sidelines through injury, Viola added seasoned Serie A stars Alberto Gilardino and Alessandro Diamanti to their ranks, and the two players should make their attack even more dangerous. The visitors could have some problems when facing free-scoring Genoa given that holding midfielder David Pizarro and stopper Stefan Savic are unavailable, but they should have enough firepower to outscore their opponents.

David Pizarro and Stefan Savic are banned, where Alberto Aquilani and Milan Badelj face fitness tests. Giuseppe Rossi, Federico Bernardeschi and Cristiano Lupatelli are out injured.

Verdict

With Genoa desperate to end the poor run and result and Fiorentina eager to close the gap behind Champions League positions, chances are we will see a very open game at Stadio Luigi Ferraris. And with last few matches of the two sides producing quite a few goals, another high-scoring affair appears on the cards.

Top pick: Over 2.5 goals   2.10 (11/10) @ BetVictor

Alternative pick 1: Both teams to score   1.83 (5/6) @ bet365

Alternative pick 2: Away win   2.20 (6/5) @ William Hill