Two sides with plenty to play for in Serie A face off on Tuesday evening as Genoa host Parma at the Luigi Ferraris Stadium.

Genoa are one place above the relegation zone with 12 games to play, while Parma are within two points of a European place.

Match preview

Parma marked their return to action following a three-month absence with a 1-1 draw at Torino on Saturday.

Nicolas Nkoulou thundered in a header to put struggling Torino in front, but Juraj Kucka earned Roberto D'Aversa's side a point with his strike after half an hour.

A draw on the face of it was not the best of results for Parma's European aspirations, especially given seventh-place Hellas Verona picked up all three points on the same day.

However, the Crusaders are still well positioned to gatecrash the European spots, with seventh now enough for a Europa League playoff berth thanks to Napoli's Coppa Italia success.

Genoa, by comparison, have not kicked a ball in a competitive match since March and are hovering dangerously close to the dropzone.

Indeed, Davide Nicola's men are level on points with Lecce in 18th place and really need to hit the ground running on their return to action.

The three-month hiatus came at a bad time for the Red and Blues in many ways as they stunned AC Milan with a 2-1 win at San Siro in their last outing.

Despite a late strike from Zlatan Ibrahimovic, goals from Goran Pandev and Franceso Cassata proved enough for Genoa to come away with three vital points.

That made it back-to-back away wins for Nicola's side, and four matches without defeat on their travels since the middle of January.

At home, however, they lost 3-2 to Lazio last time out at the Luigi Ferraris Stadium and have not won back-to-back matches since the opening month of the campaign.

Parma have a rather mixed record on their travels, meanwhile, drawing at Cagliari and Torino either side of beating Sassuolo in their last three such encounters.

Genoa will certainly be out for revenge on Tuesday given the result when the sides last met eight months ago, with Andreas Cornelius scoring a hat-trick in a 5-1 win for Parma.

Genoa's Serie A form: DDWWLW

Parma's Serie A: WDLWLD

Team News

Nicola, Genoa's third manager of the season, has settled on a 3-5-2 formation that appears to be getting the best out of his players.

The hosts will be without goalkeeper Federico Marchetti against Parma after he was sent off against Milan, so Mattia Perin will come in.

Midfielder Ivan Radovanovic picked up a season-ending injury in February, but that aside Nicola is expected to have a fully-fit squad to choose from.

Parma are likely to be without four players for their trip to the Luigi Ferraris Stadium, with Alberto Grassi, Roberto Inglese and Giuseppe Pezzella all carrying injuries.

Attacking midfielder Luca Siligardi is the other doubt, but his absence will not be felt all that much given that he has started just three times all season.

Cornelius and Gervinho, boasting a combined 13 league goals this season, will lead the line for the visitors.

Genoa possible starting lineup:
Perin; Romero, Soumaoro, Masiello; Biraschi, Behrami, Schone, Sturaro, Criscito; Sanabria, Pandev

Parma possible starting lineup:
Sepe; Darmian, Iacoponi, Bruno Alves, Gagliolo; Kucka, Brugman, Kurtic; Kulusevski, Cornelius, Gervinho

We say: Genoa 1-1 Parma

Genoa were in good form before the shutdown, winning three of their last four games, including a 2-1 win at AC Milan. Parma have drawn half of their last 10 away league matches, meanwhile, so we are tipping this one to finish all square.