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With a new manager at the helm, the ambitious but still young Monza started with a dull goalless draw against Empoli in Florence. They now welcome a Genoa side that enjoyed an impressive performance to earn a 2-2 draw against defending champions Internazionale.
KICK-OFF DATE/TIME: Saturday 24th August, 2024 - UK – 7:45pm / US ET – 2:45pm / US PT – 11:45am
HOW TO WATCH ON TV: UK – TNT Sports OR Not televised / US – Select matches will be televised on CBS Sports so it is worth checking their schedule
HOW TO WATCH ONLINE: UK – discovery+ OR Cannot be streamed / US – Paramount+
MONZA PREVIEW: FINDING A NEW FORMULA
Raffaele Palladino departed Monza this summer to replace Vincenzo Italiano at Fiorentina and Palladino himself has been replaced by AC Milan legend Alessandro Nesta. The ambitious Lombardy club, who gained promotion to Serie A for the first time ever in 2022, will be looking to try and push on into the top-half after 11th and 12th placed finishes.
They began their season with a goalless draw against Serie B outfit Sudtirol before eventually winning a penalty shootout in the first round of the Coppa Italia before then sharing another goalless draw against Empoli last weekend in a game that featured just three shots on target but they did have 62% of the ball.
GENOA PREVIEW: GILARDINO THE GEM OF GENOA
Former Italy striker and 2006 FIFA World Cup winner Alberto Gilardino remains the steady presence of a constantly changing Genoa side that have lost both Mateo Retegui and Albert Gudmundsson during this summer’s transfer window, amidst the chaos and crisis of ownership group 777 Partners.
Despite all the off-field wranglings, Genoa put in an impressive showing against defending champions Inter at the Luigi Ferraris last weekend. They took an early lead via Alessandro Vogliacco and then snatched a point right at the death when Junior Messias scored the rebound to his penalty that was initially saved by Yann Sommer.
MONZA TEAM NEWS: SAFETY FIRST FOR NESTA
Alessandro Nesta is clearly setting up his side in a safety first manner with back-to-back goalless draws to kick off their campaign but he is also hamstrung by a number of key injuries.
Equatorial Guinea international midfielder Jose Machin remains sidelined alongside goalkeeper Alessio Cragno as well as both Patrick Ciurria and striker Milan Djuric for this weekend.
PREDICTED XI (3-4-2-1): Pizzignacco; Izzo, Pablo Mari, Caldirola; Birindelli, Pessina, Bondo, Kyriakopoulos; Vignato, Maldini; Petagna
UNAVAILABLE: Cragno (Injured), Jose Machin (Injured), Ciurria (Injured), Djuric (Injured)
QUESTIONABLE:
GENOA TEAM NEWS: NO FRESH CONCERNS
There are no fresh concerns for Genoa this weekend with a few absentees remaining from before their opening game but Alberto Gilardino will be able to name an unchanged eleven for this weekend.
Key men for the rest of the season, Alan Matturro and Caleb Ekuban, remain unavailable for the visitors this weekend alongside centre-back Alessandro Marcandalli.
PREDICTED XI (3-5-2): Gollini; Vogliacco, Bani, De Winter; Zanoli, Malinovskiy, Badelj, Frendrup, Caricol; Junior Messias, Vitinha
UNAVAILABLE: Marcandalli (Injured), Alan Matturro (Injured), Ekuban (Injured)
QUESTIONABLE:
MONZA VS GENOA PREDICTION
Alessandro Nesta, as mentioned, is looking likely that he will stick with ensuring his Monza side are safety first and prioritise their defence capabilities with a lot of pressure and onus on a pretty blunt front three of Samuele Vignato, Daniel Maldini and Andrea Petagna. Genoa, on the other hand, enjoyed an entertaining clash with Inter last week but perhaps out of character and benefitting from more space so, especially with the loss of key attackers, that is expected to not be the norm.
MONZA VS GENOA TIP: UNDER 2.5 GOALS