Preview: Pisa vs Genoa - prediction, team news, lineups

Looking set for a quick return to the second tier, Pisa will continue a surely futile survival fight when they host Genoa on Sunday.

The Tuscan club slipped closer to Serie A's trapdoor by losing to Roma last time out, while the Grifone boosted their own hopes of salvation with a vital home win.

Match preview

Back in the big time after more than three decades away, Pisa have never really recovered from a grim winless run of 17 league matches.

Last year's Serie B runners-up are now nine points adrift of safety with six rounds remaining, after Donyell Malen's hat-trick consigned them to a 3-0 defeat at Stadio Olimpico.

Averaging just 0.6 points per game, the Nerazzurri have seen no improvement since making a mid-term change in the dugout: appointed in February, head coach Oscar Hiljemark has just one win from nine attempts so far.

In fact, the Tuscan club seem to be going down with a whimper, failing to even find the net in six of their last eight matches.

Hiljemark - who made 46 Serie A appearances for Genoa as a player - is running out of time to turn things around, and a minor miracle is required to keep Pisa afloat.

Before hosting the Grifone this weekend, they have posted just two wins from 16 home games this season, only scoring seven goals along the way.

Most date back several decades, but Genoa have not lost any of seven previous top-flight meetings with Pisa, including a 1-1 home draw in January.

While their hosts look bound for Serie B, the Ligurian side have been busy distancing themselves from the drop zone, and they moved nine points clear by beating Sassuolo last week.

A trademark Ruslan Malinovskyi rocket and Caleb Ekuban's late strike secured victory at Stadio Ferraris, where both teams were reduced to 10 men after a scuffle in the tunnel at half time.

Since Daniele De Rossi took charge earlier this term, Genoa have collected 30 points from 22 games, which represents the eighth-best Serie A record during that period.

Now scoring freely, the Grifone have also registered 94 shots on target since De Rossi's appointment, ranking seventh in that category.

However, before heading to Tuscany - where another win would surely make them safe - they have failed to score in four of their last six away games.

Pisa Serie A form:

L L W L L L

Genoa Serie A form:

L W W L L W

Team News

Though Pisa are still missing long-term absentee Daniel Denoon, Marius Marin could return this weekend, giving Hiljemark a virtually full squad to choose from.

Juan Cuadrado and Calvin Stengs remain short of full fitness, but both should be named on the bench.

Six-goal top scorer Stefano Moreo led the line against Roma, with support from Matteo Tramoni, but target man Rafiu Durosinmi may be recalled.

Lorenzo Colombo is set to spearhead Genoa's attack, having scored in January's reverse fixture; also on six strikes so far, he is just one goal away from equalling his best tally in a single Serie A season.

Following a half-time fight with Domenico Berardi last Sunday, Mikael Ellertsson must serve a suspension, and De Rossi will also be without two key midfielders.

Both Malinovskyi and Morten Frendrup have been handed a one-match ban for accumulated bookings, so they join injured winger Maxwel Cornet on the sidelines.

If passed fit following a flexor problem, Brooke Norton-Cuffy could replace Ellertsson.

Pisa possible starting lineup:

Semper; Calabresi, Caracciolo, Canestrelli; Leris, Hojolt, Aebischer, Angori; Tramoni, Moreo; Durosinmi

Genoa possible starting lineup:

Bijlow; Marcandalli, Ostigard, Vasquez; Sabelli, Masini, Amorim, Martin; Baldanzi, Vitinha; Colombo