Parma vs Genoa: Serie A Strugglers Clash for First Win
Two of Serie A’s strugglers collide at the Ennio Tardini on Sunday, as Parma and Genoa – both still searching for their first league win of the 2026-27 campaign – try to drag themselves out of an early-season slump.
Both sides have found brief joy in the cups. Neither has found any rhythm in the league.
Parma searching for a spark
Parma’s season has been stuck in neutral since mid-August.
Carlos Cuesta’s team have not tasted victory since a 2-0 Coppa Italia win over Catania, a result that now feels distant after four defeats in their last five matches in all competitions. The problems have been brutally clear in Serie A: no goals in narrow losses to Cagliari (1-0) and Juventus (2-0), then a flat 2-0 exit to Cremonese at the start of September.
Only in the last week has a faint pulse returned. Parma finally collected their first league point in a 1-1 draw with Monza on matchday four, then pushed Champions League debutants Como before slipping to a 2-1 defeat on Monday night.
Those two outings at least offer Cuesta something to cling to. The performances were more competitive, the structure tighter, the belief less fragile. They will need all of that, and more, to snap a three-year winless run against Genoa and end a sequence of four games without victory against the Ligurian club.
The challenge is obvious: goals. With last season’s nine-goal forward Mateo Pellegrino now at Fiorentina, Parma are still searching for a new attacking reference point. So far, only Simone Lontani and David Romero have scored in Serie A after four gameweeks, a meagre return that underlines the Emilians’ attacking issues.
At least Cuesta’s selection problems are minimal. Hans Nicolussi Caviglia misses out with a groin complaint, but that is the coach’s only confirmed absence.
Parma are expected to line up with Corvi in goal behind a back three of Delprato, Troilo and Carlos. Britschgi and Valeri should operate as the wide options, with Bernabe and Keita in the middle. Toure will look to link play behind a front pairing of Lontani and Romero, the two men who have actually found the net.
Genoa stuck in reverse
On the opposite bench, Daniele De Rossi arrives in Emilia-Romagna with his own problems to solve.
Genoa’s midweek cup win over Sudtirol provided a brief lift, but it did little to disguise a grim Serie A run. Under the former World Cup winner, the Grifone are now nine league games without a victory. Their last success in the top flight remains a 2-1 win over Pisa, who have since been relegated.
Since then, six defeats and three draws have dragged Genoa to second-bottom after four matches of the new season. The table is already uncomfortable reading, even if it is still early.
There is, however, a carrot dangling in front of De Rossi’s side. A win on Sunday could haul them as high as 13th, depending on other results. To get there, Genoa must fix issues at both ends of the pitch.
No team in Serie A has scored fewer than their two goals – a tally matched only by Parma in 17th – and the defensive record is hardly reassuring either. Eight goals conceded make them the fifth-leakiest side in the division, behind Venezia, Monza and Fiorentina (all on 11) and Udinese (10).
The one positive? Genoa finally produced a clean sheet in midweek, their first in any competition this season. The question now is whether that defensive platform can carry into the league and end a 10-game drought without a Serie A win.
De Rossi will be forced into changes. Johan Vasquez, who scored against Frosinone and then struck the winner against Sudtirol, is suspended after his red card last weekend. His absence removes both a defensive pillar and an unexpected source of goals.
Injury problems add to the headache: Elias Havel (ankle) and Lorenzo Venturino (knee) are sidelined and will not travel.
With Vasquez out, the attacking responsibility falls heavily on Milutin Osmajic, Genoa’s only other goalscorer this season. He heads into Sunday still stuck on the solitary strike he managed in the 4-1 loss to Como in early September. De Rossi is likely to pair Osmajic with Colombo up front, with Baldanzi operating between the lines.
Behind them, Bijlow should start in goal, protected by a back three of Marcandalli, Ostigard and Otoa. Ehizibue and Ellertsson are set to patrol the flanks, with Frendrup and Sow anchoring midfield.
A cagey stalemate on the cards?
Both teams are desperate. Both are short on confidence in the final third. The numbers are stark: two league goals each, long winless runs, and recent head-to-heads that have fizzled out rather than exploded.
Parma and Genoa have drawn their last two meetings 0-0. The way this season has begun for both clubs, it would not be a surprise if they made it three in a row.
Prediction: Parma 0-0 Genoa.
If that plays out, the Ennio Tardini may not be the loudest stadium in Italy on Sunday evening, but the questions hanging over both benches will only grow sharper.
