Parma vs Genoa: A Clash of Winless Sides in Serie A

Two of Serie A’s five winless sides collide at the Ennio Tardini on Sunday, as Parma and Genoa stumble into gameweek five both desperate to feel what a league victory is like in 2026-27.

Neither has found it yet. Both are running out of patience.

Two teams stuck in neutral

Parma’s season can be dressed up or stripped bare, but the picture stays the same: no wins since mid-August and confidence fraying at the edges.

Carlos Cuesta’s team last tasted victory in the Coppa Italia, a 2-0 success over Catania. That was more than a month ago. Since then, four defeats in five across all competitions have dragged the mood down in Emilia-Romagna.

The bluntness of their attack has been brutal. They failed to score in league losses to Cagliari (1-0) and Juventus (2-0), then crashed out of the cup with a 2-0 defeat at Cremonese at the start of September.

There has been the faintest flicker of recovery. A first Serie A point arrived in a 1-1 draw with Monza on matchday four, followed by a tight 2-1 loss to Champions League debutants Como on Monday night. Not enough to change their trajectory, but just enough to suggest they are not completely adrift.

They will need that sliver of encouragement. Parma have not beaten Genoa in three years and are on a four-game winless run against the Ligurian club. That record hangs over this fixture as much as the league table does.

De Rossi searching for a spark

On the opposite bench, Daniele De Rossi is also trying to arrest a slide.

Genoa arrive with a midweek boost after their domestic cup win over Sudtirol, but the league tells a harsher story. Under the former World Cup winner, the Grifone are on a nine-match winless run in Serie A.

Their last top-flight victory? A 2-1 success over Pisa, who have since dropped out of the division. Since then, six defeats and three draws have dragged Genoa to second-bottom after four games of this campaign.

There is something to chase, though. A win on Sunday could send De Rossi’s side as high as 13th, depending on other results. The table is still elastic in September, but that climb will only happen if they fix problems at both ends.

The numbers are stark. No team has scored fewer than Genoa’s two league goals, a tally matched only by Parma in 17th. At the back, they have shipped eight, the fifth-worst record in the division behind Venezia, Monza and Fiorentina (all on 11 conceded) and Udinese (10).

The one positive: their first clean sheet of the season in all competitions has just arrived. Now the question is whether that can be a platform for a first league win in 10 attempts.

Team news: thin margins, few match-winners

Cuesta at least has a largely full squad to pick from. Hans Nicolussi Caviglia misses out with a groin problem, Parma’s only confirmed absentee.

The bigger hole is structural. Last season’s nine-goal forward Mateo Pellegrino has moved on to Fiorentina, and nobody has stepped fully into that role. After four gameweeks, only Simone Lontani and David Romero have scored for Parma in Serie A, underlining how little cutting edge the Emilians have shown.

Genoa have their own issues. Johan Vasquez, who scored against Frosinone and then hit the winner against Sudtirol in midweek, is suspended after his red card last weekend. That removes one of De Rossi’s few recent bright sparks.

Elias Havel (ankle) and Lorenzo Venturino (knee) are also sidelined, trimming Genoa’s options further.

With Vasquez banned, the burden shifts to Milutin Osmajic, the only other Genoa player to score this season. His lone strike came in a 4-1 defeat to Como in early September. He needs service, and Genoa need him to be ruthless.

Likely lineups

Parma possible XI:

• Corvi; Delprato, Troilo, Carlos; Britschgi, Bernabe, Keita, Valeri; Toure, Lontani; Romero

Genoa possible XI:

• Bijlow; Marcandalli, Ostigard, Otoa; Ehizibue, Frendrup, Sow, Ellertsson; Baldanzi; Osmajic, Colombo

Prediction: another stalemate on the horizon?

Two sides short on ideas, shorter on goals, and weighed down by winless runs. It has all the ingredients of a tense, scrappy afternoon rather than a spectacle.

Parma and Genoa have drawn their last two meetings 0-0. The way both attacks are misfiring, a third goalless contest feels entirely plausible.

Prediction: Parma 0-0 Genoa.

If neither front line wakes up soon, this could be more than just a slow start. It could be the shape of their season.