GENOA v AC MILAN: DUELS

There are lots of reasons why Genoa v AC Milan will play a pivotal role in the Rossoneri's season; the desire to bounce back is high after two successive defeats, but Andriy Shevchenko's side are also in search of some all-important points in their battle to rise out of the drop zone. The match at the Ferraris tricky one, and must be approached with the utmost attention. It is of course also a fixture that will be decided by individual duels: as per usual, let's take a look at four of the key duels which may come to life in tomorrow night's match. 

NICOLÒ ROVELLA vs SANDRO TONALI
Two young and emerging Gen Z midfielders, regular starters for their respective teams so far this season. 14 out of 14 starts for Rovella, the youngest midfielder in the Top 5 European leagues to have played this many games so far. The Segrate native is heavily involved in all aspects of the Rossoblù's game: first in assists, passes completed (both overall and in the offensive half) and crosses made. This last stat is also one which Tonali excels at for the Rossoneri - like Rovella, he has also started 14 matches in Serie A this season. He scored his first Serie A goal at the Marassi in October 2019. This is a duel that is destined to be repeated in the coming years, with respect to both club and country. 

CALEB EKUBAN vs RAFAEL LEÃO
Speed, dribbling and physicality on both sides of this matchup. The 27-year-old Genoa striker is still searching for his first goal in Serie A this season despite his 12 attempts, three of which have been on target. He came very close on Sunday at the Dacia Arena in Udine. The Italo-Ghanaian has racked up 10 appearances and 512 minutes in total so far, six times as a starter and coming off the bench four times. Alongside Pandev or Bianchi, he will be able to create serious problems for our defence. Leão, who tops AC Milan's stats in terms of dribbling, shots (from both in and outside of the box) as well as fouls conceded, is having his breakout season. Another important statistic should be mentioned: whenever he has scored in the league, AC Milan have always won.

ANDREA CAMBIASO vs THEO HERNÁNDEZ
The 20-year-old Genoese is one of Genoa's rising stars, a homegrown talent, making his debut in Serie A off the back of 7 appearances last year in Empoli's return to the top flight. For Cambiaso (who scored in his first game at the Marassi against Napoli), the comparison is with one of the best left-wing-backs in the league: who provided the assist for Romagnoli's goal against Sassuolo. Theo has now made 5 appearances this season and no one has done better so far in Serie A. It is his third season (out of three in for Rossoneri) with at least five assists for the French full-back, who is looking for his first goal of the season on the road: his last one came when he scored twice against Torino on 12 May.

SALVATORE SIRIGU vs MIKE MAIGNAN
It's not all about youth: Genoa is a team that also relies on some more experienced members and one of these is the Sardinian goalkeeper, who after winning Euro 2020 with the national team is now playing his first season for the Rossoblù. Starting every one of the first 14 games, Sirigu is one of the six goalkeepers in the league to have already made at least 40 saves this season; at the other end of the pitch will be another who played at Euro 2020 (also as a backup goalkeeper), Maignan, who returns to the pitch where he made his debut in Serie A last year on 23 August. The Rossoneri's number 16, who returned from injury last Sunday after a six-match absence, is one of the top five goalkeepers in our league in terms of save percentage (72%). 

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