Preview:Bologna vs. Genoa - prediction, team news, lineups

Bologna aim to claim their first home Serie A victory over Genoa in seven attempts when they host the Grifone in Saturday's gameweek four match.

The visitors have won three and drawn three during that period at Stadio Renato Dall'Ara, and it will be interesting to see how Vincenzo Italiano approaches this weekend's game as he tries to break the Emilians' winless run in this fixture.

Match preview

Bologna head into this weekend hoping this will be the match they finally get the better of Genoa in Emilia-Romagna, having not defeated the Ligurians on home turf since 2018.

Since that 2-0 victory in February 2018, six games have come and gone without maximum points for the Rossoblu, with the most recent a 3-1 loss on the final day of the 2024-25 season.

Given that Italiano's men had little riding on that match — defeating AC Milan in the Coppa Italia final meant they secured Europa League qualification — the Emilians' motivation for this weekend cannot be questioned.

However, an underwhelming start to this season has already seen the Red and Blues fall to two defeats in their opening three games, losing to Roma and Milan.

Nonetheless, defeating Como 1-0 in their opening fixture at the Dall'Ara in gameweek two stands them in good stead for Saturday's fixture.

Beating Genoa will not be simple, despite Patrick Vieira's team starting the season with three winless matches.

Two of those matches have ended in draws, with the Ligurians held by Lecce and also drawing at Como either side of a narrow 1-0 defeat to early-season high-flyers Juventus.

Considering the recent history of this fixture, combined with Genoa remaining unbeaten in the last four matches — winning twice during that period — travelling fans will look forward to ending their dry spell at the start of the 2025-26 season this weekend.

However, the Ligurians need to build on their hard-fought, well-earned point in Como, especially in creating chances.

Vieira's team created five clear opportunities in the 1-1 draw, a big change from the first two rounds when they failed to score.

Caleb Ekuban's equaliser last time out came in the second minute of second-half stoppage time, but it was well-deserved by Genoa for constantly creating high-quality goal-scoring opportunities.

Bologna Serie A form:

Genoa Serie A form:

Genoa form (all competitions):

Team News

Italiano has a few injury concerns: Nicolo Casale (hamstring injury), Tommaso Pobega (hamstring), Ibrahim Sulemana (knee) and Ciro Immobile (hamstring) are all unlikely to play on Saturday.

Although Riccardo Orsolini and Santiago Castro are Bologna's main threats on paper, Charalampos Lykogiannis, Nicolo Cambiaghi and Lorenzo De Silvestri have created five, four and three chances in the opening rounds respectively, indicating their tendency to take supportive roles in the team.

The visitors will need to cope without Maxwel Cornet, who is sidelined with a calf injury, while Jean Onana's unspecified issue is expected to keep him out for the Ligurians.

While Ekuban deserves recognition for ending Genoa's league drought this season, Aaron Martin deserves praise for his chance creation so far, with the wide defender fashioning six attempts this season.

Bologna possible starting lineup:

Skorupski; Zortea, Haggen, Lucumi, Lykogiannis; Freuler, Ferguson; Orsolini, Fabbian, Cambiaghi; Castro

Genoa possible starting lineup:

Leali; Norton-Cuffy, Ostigad, Vasquez, Martin; Masini, Frendrup; Ellertsson, Carboni, Stanciu; Colombo