Match Information
Match Overview
Matchday 12 of the Serie A regular season brings Sassuolo, 17th in the table, up against Genoa, 13th, on November 22. The four-place gap is small, but it separates a side in the lower reaches of the standings from one with a little more breathing room, making this a meaningful fixture for both clubs as the season moves past its early stages.
The most striking factor is the contrast in recent league form. Sassuolo have lost all five of their listed league matches, against Frosinone (4-2 on October 16), Como (2-0 on October 24), Lazio (6-2 on October 27), Fiorentina (4-2 on November 2) and AS Roma (3-0 on November 7). In those five games they have conceded 19 goals and scored six, and they have kept no clean sheet. Genoa, by contrast, won three straight between October 25 and November 1, beating Venezia 1-0, Juventus 2-0 and Lecce 2-1 away, before a 2-1 home defeat to AC Milan on November 8.
The head-to-head record also favors the visitors. Genoa have won each of the last four meetings, including a 2-1 victory on April 12, 2026 and a 2-1 win at Sassuolo on November 3, 2025. Sassuolo's most recent victory in the series came on May 9, 2021, when they won 2-1 away, and their biggest win in the sample is 5-0 on July 29, 2020.
Neither club has reported any injuries, so both managers, Sassuolo's A. Aquilani and Genoa's D. De Rossi, should have full squads to choose from. That puts the focus on tactical decisions and on whether Sassuolo can tighten up defensively against a Genoa side that has kept clean sheets in two of its last five league games. For Sassuolo, the match is a chance to end a losing run; for Genoa, an opportunity to rebound from the Milan defeat.
Predicted Lineups
Sassuolo
Murić; Walukiewicz, Idzes, Ćaleta-Car; Cinquegrano, Thorstvedt, Matić, Sulemana, Doig; Esposito, Laurienté
Genoa
Bijlow; Marcandalli, Østigård, Vásquez; Ehizibue, Wiafe, Traorè, Ellertsson, Junior Messias, Vítinha; Osmajić
Team Form Analysis
Sassuolo
League Position: 17Sassuolo Form Analysis
Sassuolo arrive on the back of five consecutive league defeats, a run that has defined their season so far. The slide began with a 4-2 loss at Frosinone on October 16, followed by a 2-0 defeat at Como on October 24. The home matches offered no relief: Lazio won 6-2 at the Sassuolo ground on October 27, and Fiorentina took a 4-2 victory there on November 2. Most recently, AS Roma won 3-0 on November 7.
The defensive numbers are the main concern. Sassuolo have conceded 19 goals across these five matches, an average of 3.8 per game, and in four of the five they conceded at least three. The attack has shown signs of life, scoring twice in three of the five games, but never more than twice in a single match, which has not been enough to offset the defensive leakage.
The opposition has been varied, with sides from across the table, including Roma, Lazio and Fiorentina, so the run cannot be attributed to one tough stretch alone. The 3-5-2 shape used in the last game will be tested again by a Genoa team in better form, and tightening the back three and midfield protection looks the clear priority.
Genoa
League Position: 13Genoa Form Analysis
Genoa's recent league form is mixed but trending positively overall, with three wins and two losses in their last five. After a 2-0 defeat at AS Roma on October 17, they strung together three victories: 1-0 at home against Venezia on October 25, 2-0 at home against Juventus on October 28, and 2-1 away at Lecce on November 1. That sequence produced two clean sheets and five goals scored.
The run was interrupted on November 8, when AC Milan won 2-1 in Genoa. Even in defeat, Genoa scored, and across the five matches they have netted six goals while conceding six, a balanced profile compared with the volatility seen elsewhere in the division.
The defensive record is solid. They have conceded more than one goal only once in the five games, and the three-man back line has been paired with wing-backs who support in attack. The win over Juventus stands out as the highest-profile result of the stretch, and the away win at Lecce suggests Genoa can collect points on the road. Sitting 13th, they will look to build on that platform against a Sassuolo side in clear difficulty.
Head-to-Head
Sassuolo
Genoa
Recent Meetings
| Date | Home | Score | Away |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-04-12 | Genoa | 2 - 1 | Sassuolo |
| 2025-11-03 | Sassuolo | 1 - 2 | Genoa |
| 2024-05-12 | Genoa | 2 - 1 | Sassuolo |
| 2023-12-22 | Sassuolo | 1 - 2 | Genoa |
| 2022-01-06 | Sassuolo | 1 - 1 | Genoa |
| 2021-10-17 | Genoa | 2 - 2 | Sassuolo |
| 2021-05-09 | Genoa | 1 - 2 | Sassuolo |
| 2021-01-06 | Sassuolo | 2 - 1 | Genoa |
| 2020-07-29 | Sassuolo | 5 - 0 | Genoa |
| 2020-01-05 | Genoa | 2 - 1 | Sassuolo |
Memorable Matches
The recent history of this fixture has leaned toward Genoa. Their 2-1 win on April 12, 2026 and their 2-1 win at Sassuolo on November 3, 2025 extended a four-match winning streak in the series, which also includes a 2-1 victory on May 12, 2024 and a 2-1 win at Sassuolo on December 22, 2023. The tight scorelines show how closely contested these games have usually been.
Further back, the standout result is Sassuolo's 5-0 win over Genoa on July 29, 2020, the most lopsided score in the available record. The sides then traded results in a run of close games: Sassuolo won 2-1 on January 6, 2021, Genoa lost 2-1 at home on May 9, 2021, and the teams drew 2-2 on October 17, 2021 and 1-1 on January 6, 2022.
Venue Factor
The venue for this fixture has not been confirmed in the available data, so the analysis has to rely on broader patterns. Sassuolo are the designated home side, and home advantage is normally a factor in Serie A, but their recent home results have offered little encouragement: they lost 6-2 to Lazio on October 27 and
Injury Concerns
Sassuolo
Genoa
