Preview: Genoa vs. Hellas Verona – prediction, team news, lineups

Daniele De Rossi makes his home debut for Genoa on Saturday as he takes on third place serie a The club hosted bottom-placed Hellas Verona at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris in the round of 12.

Two places separate the struggling clubs table Ahead of this weekend, however, the Liguria hosts are in better form after going unbeaten in three matches, while Verona are still winless this season.

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match preview

Genoa were ahead twice and fell behind against Cagliari the last time out, but extended their unbeaten run to three matches after losing four of their last five and six of their first nine, before being held to a thrilling 3–3 draw.

That start cost Patrick Vieira his job in Liguria, with De Rossi taking charge of the Rossoblu for the first time in the 12th round and the team having taken four points from six before he took charge.

After struggling for goals earlier this season, Griffin has scored seven in his last three matches after hitting the target just four times in his opening nine league matches.

Two of those strikes came in their 2–2 draw with Fiorentina before the November international break, the Rossoblu’s first goals in the Marassi this season.

Having ended their home drought at the sixth attempt, De Rossi’s prolific side now aim to inflict more grief on their winless visitors from Veneto as they hope to escape the bottom three by possibly overturning either Pisa or Lecce, who are two points above them in the standings.

Survival hopes look bleak for Verona after each round, especially since Paolo Zanetti’s side are still winless in Gameweek 13.

The Yellow and Blues’ last Serie A win was on the final weekend of last season, when they beat Empoli 2-1 at the Castellani.

Twelve league games have passed since that narrow success, with Mastini unable to score maximum points in the league, leaving them bottom of the table and four points away from safety this weekend.

While they may not climb out of the bottom three with a win, they risk falling further behind in the battle to stay in the division, stressing the importance of success on Saturday.

However, traveling supporters can take encouragement from the same match last season, when their team won 2–0, albeit in September 2024.

To repeat that win, Verona will need to improve on their only two goals scored in six away games and also prevent them from conceding more than 10 goals on their trips so far.

Genoa Serie A form:

Hellas Verona Serie A form:

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team news

Brook Norton-Cuffey was sent off after receiving a second yellow card at the end of the game against Cagliari, leaving Genoa traveling without their wide defender this weekend.

Some players are unavailable for De Rossi due to injury: Maxwell Cornet (thigh), Junior Messias (muscle), Jean Onana (thigh) and Hugo Cuenca (muscle).

Leo Ostigaard has somehow managed to keep scoring or assisting, his latest against Cagliari meaning he has scored in three consecutive league games, taking the centre-back to four goal involvements during this period.

While only Ostigård has scored more than once for the hosts this season, Verona have three players on two goals each: Suat Serdar, Gioven and Gift Orban.

However, Serdar is out with a knee injury, thus joining Jean-Daniel Akpa Akpro and Tomas Suslov (knee) on the sidelines; Grigoris Kastanos is playing an innings that will be assessed ahead of Saturday.

Giovan remains the club’s star forward, although he must find a way to influence away games, as only one of his five direct contributions has been away from home: against Udinese in August.

Their inability to influence matches away from Veneto explains why they have had blank shots in four of six away matches in 2025-26, a figure they will be looking to improve on this weekend.

Genoa probable starting lineup:

Lily; Marchandalli, Ostigard, Vazquez; Sabelli, Malinowski, Frendrup, Thoresby, Martin; Colombo, Vitinha

Hellas Verona probable starting lineup:

Montipo; Bella-Cotcheap, Nelson, Friz; Belghali, Harraoui, Gagliardini, Bernad, Braderic; Gioven, Orban

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We say: Genoa 2-1 Hellas Verona

Since Verona’s main threats have been unable to influence away games, Genoa should be confident of picking up a win this weekend, even if the visitors manage to score once against this Griffon defence.

De Rossi’s side have scored at least two goals in their last three games, and another pair should be enough against the league’s bottom team.

Please click here for data analysis of the most probable outcomes of this match, scoreline and more.

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