Pisa host Genoa on Sunday with the home side running out of room in the Serie A relegation fight. Pisa are nine points adrift of safety with six rounds remaining, and their wait for a league victory has stretched to 17 matches.
Oscar Hiljemark has managed one win from nine attempts since taking charge in February, a run that has left Pisa leaning on hope more than form. They were beaten 3-0 by Roma at the Stadio Olimpico last time out, and have failed to score in six of their last eight matches.
The numbers at home are just as stark. Pisa have won only two of 16 league games on their own ground this season and have scored seven goals in those 16 matches. They have also failed to score in four of their last six away games, a pattern that has made every point feel costly.
There are some signs of movement in the squad. Daniel Denoon remains a long-term absentee, but Marius Marin could return this weekend. Juan Cuadrado and Calvin Stengs are still short of full fitness, while Stefano Moreo, who has six goals this season, led the line against Roma with Matteo Tramoni supporting him. Rafiu Durosinmi may be recalled.
Genoa arrive with a very different mood. They beat Sassuolo last week to move nine points clear of the drop zone, and Ruslan Malinovskyi’s long-range strike plus Caleb Ekuban’s late finish underlined a side with more breathing room and more threat. Both teams were also reduced to 10 men after a scuffle in the tunnel at half time against Sassuolo, a sharp reminder that Genoa’s edge is not limited to the table.
Daniele De Rossi has taken 30 points from 22 games since taking charge, and Genoa have registered 94 shots on target in that span. Those figures point to a team that is not merely escaping danger but doing enough in both boxes to keep control of tight games.
The history leans the same way. Genoa have not lost any of their seven previous top-flight meetings with Pisa, and the sides drew 1-1 in Genoa in January. Pisa are back in Serie A after more than three decades away and came up as last season’s Serie B runners-up, but their survival bid has been blunted by a 17-match winless run. Genoa, by contrast, have settled into a more secure position under De Rossi, and that balance could matter again on Sunday.
For Pisa, the question is no longer whether they need a result. It is whether they can find a goal, and then another, against an opponent that has already shown it knows how to survive this kind of pressure.
