Davide Ballardini makes his debut on the Genoa bench and revamps the side for this relegation dogfight against Crotone.

It kicks off at the Stadio Scida at 11.30 GMT, you'll be able to follow the build-up and action from all today’s Serie A games on the LIVEBLOG.

Davide Ballardini makes his debut on the Genoa bench and revamps the side for this relegation dogfight against Crotone.

It kicks off at the Stadio Scida at 11.30 GMT, you'll be able to follow the build-up and action from all today’s Serie A games on the LIVEBLOG.

This is, in truth, the third stint for Ballardini on the Grifone bench, as he rescued them from the drop when taking over in 2010-11 and again in 2012-13, so is hoping to do it again.

He replaces Ivan Juric, who was fired after amassing just one victory and three draws this season, as defeat to Sampdoria in the Derby della Lanterna proved the final straw.

Fresh from three straight losses, there were reports Genoa would move to a 4-3-2-1 formation with Goran Pandev and Adel Taarabt supporting centre-forward Gianluca Lapadula.

Instead, Lapadula is dropped to the bench in favour of a more ‘slimline’ front two of Taarabt (who is not fully fit) and the Macedonian veteran.

Andrea Bertolacci is picked ahead of Stephane Omeonga in midfield.

Crotone, on the other hand, have found their confidence after a dismal start to the campaign, enjoying back-to-back victories over Fiorentina and Bologna.

Davide Nicola already performed a miracle to salvage the Squali from relegation in their first ever Serie A season and now has a comfortable 13 points under his belt already.

Marcus Rohden is fresh from helping Sweden knock Italy out of the World Cup play-offs, and is therefore rested in favour of Andrea Nalini.

Aleksandar Tonev isn’t fully fit either, so Marcello Trotta and Ante Budimir are the front two.

It’s a reunion for Rolando Mandragora, who came up through the Genoa youth academy.

Crotone haven’t beaten Genoa since a 4-3 Serie B thriller here in May 2002, managing three draws and three losses, home and away in all competition.

Crotone: Cordaz; Sampirisi, Ceccherini, Simic, Martella; Nalini, Barberis, Mandragora, Stoian; Trotta, Budimir

Genoa: Perin; Izzo, Spolli, Zukanovic; Laxalt, Rigoni, Veloso, Bertolacci, Rosi; Taarabt, Pandev

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Tickets Kit Collector