Serie A
Genoa vs. Napoli kicks off at 19:45 [GMT] on Saturday, August 22, at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris. Having escaped relegation last season by the whiskers with a 16th-place finish, Genoa will launch their 2026/27 campaign with an opening clash against Napoli. Daniele De Rossi’s side have already tasted competitive football this season with a curtain raiser, the Coppa Italia round-of-64 match. where they defeated Ascoli 4-0. They head into Saturday’s clash with home form rated as average, having produced 1.4 points per game on their own ground. While their task is significantly complicated by Napoli's stronger return away from home, goals have also been a regular feature of the fixture. Across 34 meetings between Genoa and Napoli, it has averaged 2.91 goals, with 20 of the 34 producing over 2.5 goals. Both teams have scored in 62% of those matches, highlighting how often Genoa have contributed despite Napoli's dominance in terms of results. The last Serie A victory over Napoli came in February 2021, when they recorded a 2-1 home success. Since then, Napoli have repeatedly found a way to avoid defeat in this matchup. Genoa will be seeking to improve their five victories from 34 previous meetings against the visitors while preventing Napoli from extending their recent unbeaten sequence against them. A 3—4—2—1 formation with Colombo in attack is expected against Napoli.
Napoli will begin the season looking to challenge for the domestic title, having relinquished the Serie A championship to Inter. The visitors, who return under new manager Allegri, having finished in 2nd place last term, will be eager to get off to a flying start. Their superior head-to-head record and two-point average on the road give them strong statistical foundations for this opening assignment. In addition, the most recent league encounter between both sides actually took place in February 2026 and ended in a 3-2 Napoli victory at the Luigi Ferraris. Napoli also won the reverse fixture 2-1 earlier in the 2025-26 campaign. Victory here would leave Napoli with a nine-game unbeaten run against Genoa in Serie A. A 4—3—3 formation with Rasmus Højlund, who reportedly has a 20-goal benchmark, Alisson Santos and Politano may be seen in attack against Genoa. Benoit Badiashile, who completed his medical with Napoli, joined the squad and is likely to make his debut for the club on Saturday. “The fans at our training camp were very close to the team. We’re preparing as best we can, and we’re certain we’ll be ready [against Genoa]. We’ve worked well this month, the team is strong, with the additions of Badiashile and Favasuli, we’re very competitive,” teammate Politano said ahead of Saturday’s opener.