Given their impressive form so far, it is quite surprising that as recently as the 2012/2013 Serie A campaign, Genoa were battling relegation and were fortunate to remain in the top flight by securing a 17th placed finish. Last season saw the Grifone finish in 14th and Gian Piero Gasperini was certainly feeling the pressure to produce some better results this season.
February 2009 was the last time that Genoa were able to string together such a long succession of games without defeat, with nine so far this campaign, although they did lose against Empoli in the Coppa Italia earlier this week. The last time the hosts lost in the league was on September 28th to Sampdoria. Since then, they handed Juventus their first defeat of the season and since then they have steadily built up some momentum that now sees them in fourth place, only behind Napoli on goal difference after 13 rounds.
However, Genoa have not enjoyed their meetings with Milan. In their past five matches against the Rossoneri, they have only earned one point, and lost the other four. Moreover, the visitors have enjoyed their trips to the Stadio Luigi Ferraris and have scored exactly two goals in each of their past two wins in 2013 and 2014. Still, Milan have looked very suspect at the back and still continue to struggle with set-piece situations--something that frustrated Diavolo fans last term--and Genoa will be keen on taking advantage of this.
Jeremy Menez, since arriving from PSG has been in excellent form for Filippo Inzaghi's side and so the French international will be definitely deployed from the start. On the other hand, Fernando Torres, who was on the bench for their past two games is not likely to start, with his manager seemingly satisfied with the performances of Keisuke Honda and Stephan El Shaarawy.
For Genoa, the star has been Alessandro Matri, who began his career with Milan but spent the majority of it out on loan. And after a spell with Juventus, the Rossoneri brought him back, only for him to struggle and be sent out to Fiorentina, and now Genoa on another loan spell. The 30-year-old has been in solid form for his side, netting six goals so far and will definitely be keen on grabbing his first home goal--against his parent club, nonetheless.
The Grifone have only lost two games thus far this season, but the Diavolo have yet to lose a game on the road. With just two points dividing the two sides, the stage appears to be set for an interesting match-up between two familiar opponents. Fans of both teams and Serie A neutrals will definitely want to keep an eye on this one to see whether the hosts will finally end their string of bad luck against their opponents, or if Milan will continue to maintain their good record away from home this season.
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