Serie A preview: Genoa vs. AC Milan – Team news, opposition insight, stats and prediction

By: Isak Möller

A tough away trip awaits AC Milan on Sunday afternoon, hoping to restore some order against an in-form Genoa side.

What many hoped would be a positive week quickly turned into a negative one, as Milan failed to build on the derby win against Ferencvaros. In other words, they need to respond with a strong performance against Genoa, which is easier said than done.

Ruben Amorim didn’t have a press conference earlier today due to the tight schedule, so there are no new takeaways from him. Judging from the post-match interviews on Thursday, however, he’s expecting a lot more from his players at the Marassi.

Game date: Sunday, November 8 Kick-off time: 15:00 (CET) Venue: Stadio Luigi Ferraris Referee: Davide Massa (VAR: Camplone)

It’s been said for quite a few games now, but Amorim certainly isn’t being helped by the injury situation. In total, seven players will be on the sidelines for the game tomorrow, including key players like Samuel Chukwueze, Strahinja Pavlovic and Alexis Saelemaekers.

Milan were hoping to recover the Serbian for this one, but severe stomach pain is keeping him on the sidelines after missing the Ferencvaros game too. Considering that Matteo Gabbia and Fikayo Tomori were already on the injury list, it’s certainly not ideal.

Mike Maignan will be back between the sticks, at least, after serving a suspension in the Europa League. He will have a defence of Mario Gila, Koni De Winter, Sankhoun Diawara and Pervis Estupinan ahead of him, with the left flank being the main worry there.

In midfield, Ardon Jashari will be demoted to the bench as Luka Modric will be back from start, partnering with Yunus Musah in a tandem. Adrien Rabiot, meanwhile, is expected to have a slightly more advanced role.

Diego Moreira and Christian Pulisic will be the danger men on the attacking flanks, looking to replicate their success against Inter in the derby. The same cannot be said for Goncalo Ramos, who instead needs to break his long goal drought in the league (last goal came in August).

In terms of firepower on the bench, Amorim could turn to Davide Bartesaghi, the aforementioned Jashari, Omari Hutchinson and Alphadjo Cisse. Francesco Camarda will also be there, of course, but whether he can be categorised as an impact player is a different question.

Predicted Milan XI (4-2-3-1): Maignan; Gila, De Winter, Diawara, Estupinan; Musah, Modric; Moreira, Rabiot, Pulisic; Ramos.

Predicted bench: Torriani, Bouyer, F. Terracciano, Vladimirov, Bartesaghi, Jashari, Comotto, Hutchinson, Cisse, Camarda.

Injuries & suspensions: Chukwueze, Gabbia, Loftus-Cheek, Pavlovic, Saelemaekers, Terracciano, Tomori.

After what was a disastrous start to the 2025-26 season under Patrick Vieira, sitting rock bottom between the 7th and 9th matchdays, Daniele De Rossi was appointed. He quickly brought them above the relegation zone and managed to keep them there, finishing seven points clear in the end.

It was only right to confirm him for this season, as such, and there have been no regrets so far. The start was admittedly dodgy, with one draw and four defeats in the first five games, but there have been four wins and one defeat in the five games since. Crisis very much averted.

The only defeat in the last five games came against De Rossi’s former club as well, namely Roma, who have been on fire at the start of this season. There can be no accusations of the former midfielder throwing the game to benefit his former club, let’s put it that way.

Nevertheless, the poor star has been cancelled out and it’s possible that De Rossoneri just needed some time, especially after losing key players like Jeff Ekhator (to Juventus) and Brooke Norton-Vuffy (to Hull City). The Serie A veteran Ruslan Malinovskyi also waved goodbye as his contract expired.

On the flip side, the Rossoblu did keep hold of most of the key players from last season, such as Johan Vasquez, Leo Ostigard, Morten Frendrup, and Lorenzo Colombo. The latter was signed permanently from Milan after a season-long loan, as the conditions for the obligation were triggered.

Some interesting signings were also made, from the veteran (and former Milan man) Stephan El Shaarawy to the familiar face Hamed Traore, who played for Sassuolo between 2019 and 2013. After spells at Bournemouth, Napoli, Auxerre and Marseille, he’s now looking to regain stability.

As for the latest team news, De Rossi has a much better situation than Amorim with no injuries or suspensions to note. Lorenzo Venturino and Elias Havel were both on the sidelines but have returned for this one.

It looks like the former Milan men El Shaarawy and Colombo will start, while Junior Messias could perhaps be introduced from the bench. De Rossi didn’t give much away during his presser in terms of the team selection, but he did make it clear that Genoa cannot get too cocky.

Genoa (3-5-2): Bijlow; Marcandalli, Ostigard, Vasquez; Ellertsson, Baldanzi, Frendrup, Traore, El Shaarawy; Colombo, Osmajic.

Predicted bench: Stolz, Sommariva, Messias, Otoa, Sabelli, Puczka, Amorim, Meichtry, Mitaj, Vitinha, Sow, Drameh, Ehizibue, Wiafe, Venturino, Havel.

Injuries & suspensions: None.

This will be the 157th encounter between the two sides, with Milan looking to build on their 71 wins in the fixture, while Genoa are quite far behind at 37 wins. 48 games have ended all square, which is a tally that has increased lately.

In the last five games, there have been three draws (3-3, 0-0 and 1-1), but the good news for the Rossoneri is that they won the other two games. The five games before that were all wins as well, with no defeat recorded against the Rossoblu since 2020.

The most recent win was a 2-1 win at the Marassi in favour of Milan, courtesy of goals from Christopher Nkunku and Zachary Athekame. They both left the club on loan this summer, so they won’t be of any help tomorrow.

In the game before that, Rafael Leao (another player who’s no longer in the team) rescued a point in the dying minutes after Colombo had given Genoa the lead in the first half.

➤ Milan are unbeaten in their last 10 Serie A matches against Genoa (W6 D4). Since 2020-21, the Rossoneri only have a longer run of unbeaten games against Hellas Verona (12).

➤ Milan have won each of their last four Serie A away games against Genoa; only against three teams do the Rossoneri currently have a longer running away win streak in the competition: Hellas Verona (seven), Messina (five) and Pisa (five).

➤ Genoa are on a three-game winning streak in Serie A. The last time the Rossoblu recorded a streak of four consecutive wins in a single season in the top flight was between March and April 2009.

➤ Genoa have won three of their first six home games this season (D1 L2). The Rossoblu haven’t won four of their first seven Serie A home games since the 2015-16 season, when Gian Piero Gasperini was in charge.

➤ Ruben Amorim’s Milan have scored 21 goals in their first 10 Serie A games this season. The last Rossoneri manager to do better after his first 11 league games was Cesare Maldini in 1972, with 25 goals.

➤ Milan have won two and drawn three of their first five away games this season. The Rossoneri have avoided defeat in their first six away games of the season on three occasions between 2020-21 and 2025-26, the same number as Inter and Napoli, and could now become the only team to do so four times in this span, including the current season.

➤ Genoa have scored four goals in the first 15 minutes of Serie A action this season, a figure they share with Frosinone, Atalanta, Lazio, and Roma and second only to Milan (five). However, the Rossoblu are the only team yet to score in the final 15 minutes of a match.

➤ Stephan El Shaarawy, who scored 21 goals in 83 league appearances for AC Milan, has provided an assist in each of his last two Serie A appearances. Should he also contribute to a goal in his next match, he would become, at 34 years and 12 days, the second-oldest player to achieve this feat in three consecutive games for Genoa since 2004-05, after Domenico Criscito in 2021 (34 years and 269 days).

➤ Adrien Rabiot has bagged five goals and three assists in his first eight league appearances this season. The last midfielder to do better in the first nine games of a Serie A season was Sergej Milinkovic-Savic in 2022-23, with 10 contributions (three goals and seven assists).

Furthermore, the Frenchman has been involved in a goal in each of his last five appearances, and the last Milan midfielder to do better in Serie A was Kaka in 2004 (seven).

➤ Diego Moreira has been directly involved in seven goals (four goals and three assists) in his first six Serie A appearances for AC Milan. Since 2004/05, no player has had more in his first six league games for the Rossoneri, equaling Mario Balotelli’s record (seven in 2013).

Starting with Milan, and at the back, I think we should keep an extra eye on Diawara. He did well in the derby but after switching to centre-back for the Ferencvaros game, his display just wasn’t good enough. He will have the same position tomorrow and we need to see an improvement.

Further up the pitch, Moreira showed in the derby that he can be just the X-factor that Milan need, and this game should be an even better one for him (at least on paper). The cameo against Ferencvaros was positive despite the result, so hopefully he can build on the last week.

As for the home side, I’m curious to see Traore in action again. He definitely had some very good games for Sassuolo against the Rossoneri and with more consistent playing time at Genoa, he could rediscover that spark which made him so special.

Finally, I think it would be silly to ignore the defensive general, Vasquez. He always seems to have good games against Milan and honestly, he’s the type of player the Rossoneri could use right now, at least as a deputy.

It’s been incredibly hard to predict how well Milan will do so far this season, with many ups and downs. However, my gut feeling tells me that they will be able to do a whole lot better than on Thursday, especially since the key players are back from start.

My only worry is the left-hand side of the defence, with Diawara and Estupinan set to start there. As such, I’m going to go for a narrow win, with no clean sheet either. Let us know your prediction in the comments below!

Genoa 1-2 Milan

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