Parma vs Genoa: Serie A Strugglers Seek First Win
Two of Serie A’s strugglers collide at the Ennio Tardini on Sunday, as Parma and Genoa – both still hunting their first league win of the 2026-27 campaign – try to drag themselves out of an early-season rut.
Neither side has tasted victory in Serie A. Both know this already feels like more than just gameweek five.
Two teams stuck in neutral
Parma’s season has been stuck in reverse since mid-August. The Emilians beat Catania 2-0 in the Coppa Italia, then the lights went out: four defeats in their next five matches in all competitions and no wins since that cup tie.
The problems have been brutally simple. They have not found the net in Serie A defeats to Cagliari (1-0) and Juventus (2-0), and they went out of the cup with another 2-0 loss at Cremonese at the start of September. A blunt attack, punished every time at the other end.
There has been a flicker of life. Parma finally put a point on the board with a 1-1 draw against Monza on matchday four, then pushed Champions League debutants Como hard before slipping to a narrow 2-1 defeat on Monday night. Not enough to change the mood, but enough to suggest there is something to work with.
Carlos Cuesta will cling to that. He has to. Parma have not beaten Genoa in three years and are winless in their last four against the Ligurians. If they are going to reset their season, this is the kind of run they must snap.
De Rossi’s Genoa searching for a spark
On the other bench, Daniele De Rossi arrives with a different kind of weight on his shoulders.
Genoa did at least enjoy a brief release in midweek, beating Sudtirol in the cup to claim their first clean sheet of the season. But the league table tells the harsher story: second-bottom after four matches, no wins, and a nine-game winless streak in Serie A stretching back to last season.
The last time the Grifone celebrated three points in the league was a 2-1 victory over Pisa, who have since gone down. Since that night, six defeats and three draws have dragged De Rossi’s bright start into a long, grinding slump.
The numbers are unforgiving. Genoa have scored just two league goals – the same meagre tally as Parma, who sit 17th – and only four teams have conceded more than their eight: Venezia, Monza and Fiorentina have all shipped 11, Udinese 10. Problems at both ends, with no obvious quick fix.
Yet the table is still malleable in September. A win on Sunday could lift Genoa as high as 13th if other results fall kindly. That is the carrot for De Rossi: solve the fragility, build on that first shutout of the season, and finally turn a corner after 10 league games without a victory.
Team news: thin margins, key absences
Cuesta at least has clarity with his squad. Hans Nicolussi Caviglia misses out with a groin issue, Parma’s only confirmed absentee for the weekend.
The bigger hole is structural. Last season’s nine-goal forward Mateo Pellegrino is now at Fiorentina, and Parma have yet to replace his edge in the final third. Four gameweeks in, only Simone Lontani and David Romero have scored for the hosts. It underlines the scale of their attacking issues more starkly than any league table.
Genoa’s problems are different but just as awkward. Johan Vasquez, who scored against Frosinone and then struck the winner against Sudtirol in midweek, is suspended after his red card last weekend. De Rossi also has to do without Elias Havel (ankle) and Lorenzo Venturino (knee), both sidelined.
That puts more of the burden on Milutin Osmajic. He is the only other Genoa player to have scored this season, his solitary goal coming in a 4-1 defeat to Como in early September. On Sunday, he walks into the Tardini knowing his team badly need him to find something again.
Likely lineups
Parma are expected to line up with Corvi in goal, behind a back three of Delprato, Troilo and Carlos. Britschgi, Bernabe, Keita and Valeri should patrol midfield, with Toure and Lontani supporting Romero up front.
Genoa are set to respond with Bijlow between the posts, Marcandalli, Ostigard and Otoa forming a three-man defence. Ehizibue, Frendrup, Sow and Ellertsson are tipped to start across midfield, with Baldanzi operating behind the front pair of Osmajic and Colombo.
A cagey stalemate on the cards?
Both sides arrive short on confidence, shorter still on goals. Parma and Genoa have already shown how easily their attacks can be shut down, and neither manager will want to open up and risk another damaging defeat.
The pressure may be rising, but the football could be tight, tense and cautious in Emilia-Romagna.
Prediction: Parma 0-0 Genoa.
It would be a third straight goalless draw between these two – and if that plays out again, how long before patience runs out in either dugout?
