Off the back of two games without a win, in both Europe and Serie A, Lazio looked to bounce back with Genoa on the horizon.
Over the last couple of seasons, Lazio has been a mixed bag under the previous manager Simone Inzaghi.
Under the current Inter manager, Lazio’s league position was quite topsy-turvy, as European football was not always a guarantee.
Now under ex-Chelsea manager, Maurizio Sarri, le Aquile looks to create a sense of consistency regarding finishing in the Italian top four and possibly punching slightly higher up the table at a later date.
Genoa’s league position has also varied over the last couple of seasons, as they constantly switch from mid-table safety to relegation battling.
So far this season, Genoa see themselves on the bad side of their cycle and currently sat 18th before the matchup against Lazio.
The week prior, the higher-ups within Genoa made a managerial change and sacked their current manager, Davide Ballardini, and replaced him with the legendary striker for Andriy Shevchenko.
Shevchenko has shown he can coach an organised defence with his work with the Ukrainian National team during Euro 2020, and this quality of coaching is needed as Genoa has the 4th worst defence in the league.
Work surely needs to be done.
In this tactical analysis, I will discuss Genoa’s offensive tactics, besides how Lazio fared within this game when progressing the ball forward and creating.
Last, I will look into some of Genoa’s missed opportunities for attack that will need rectifying if they wish to stay up in the Italian topflight.
Lazio Formation & Line up
Lazio made use of a 4-3-3 formation during this match, with Thomas Strakosha.
In defence, Elseid Hysaj and Adam Marušić are at full-back, with Luiz Felipe and Francesco Acerbi at centre-back.
In Lazio’s midfield three, Sergej Milinković-Savić, Danilo Cataldi and Toma Bašić.
In attack, ex-Barcelona attacker Pedro, with Felipe Anderson and Mattia Zaccagni.
Genoa made use of a 3-5-2 formation, with Salvatore Sirigu in goal.
At centre-back, Johan Vásquez, Zinho Vanheusden and Domenico Criscito with Andrea Cambiaso and Paolo Ghiglione at wing-back.
In midfield, Milan Badelj, Manolo Portanova and Stefano Sturaro.
In attack, Mattia Destro and Goran Pandev.
Genoa’s inconsistent possession game
When taking a glance at the Serie A table, based upon position, some may assume Genoa are a team with no structure or identity, but this is an incorrect notion, and in possession against Lazio, this was on display.
During this match, Genoa made use of a 3+1 structure during the first phase of play, their two more advanced central midfielders, Manolo Portanova and Stefano Sturaro the half-spaces.
