Genoa, Bologna and Venezia have three points between them as Serie A restarts

Serie A's bottom three have three points between them after five rounds: Bologna have 2, Genoa 1 and Venezia none. The league returns from a three-week break this weekend, and all three face a test that could decide whether the gap to safety grows or shrinks.

The gap in numbers

The line is low. Fiorentina sit 17th, the last safe place, on 4 points, level with Monza, Parma, Torino and Udinese. Bologna are two points short of that group, Genoa three and Venezia four. None of the bottom three has won a league game yet: Bologna have drawn twice and lost three times (3 scored, 6 conceded), Genoa have one draw and four defeats (3-10), and Venezia have lost all five (4-13).

Genoa v Fiorentina, Saturday 15:00

The round opens at the Ferraris with a direct clash between 19th and 17th. Genoa coach Daniele De Rossi now works with a new sporting director, François Modesto, and Il Fatto Quotidiano writes that defeat against Fiorentina would be damaging for him. The break cost Genoa three players to injury: Meichtry, Colombo and midfielder Sow, who suffered a hamstring lesion with Switzerland and, according to ANSA, could be out for two weeks, missing Fiorentina, Roma and Venezia. Havel, Nuredini and Venturino are also unavailable, while El Shaarawy is fit and could start. Sky Sport expects Vitinha to replace Colombo up front.

Fiorentina took four points from their two games before the break but travel without Arthur Atta, held back with an abdominal muscle overload. Franco Mastantuono returned from Argentina duty two days before the match. "We need to be careful, because the points don't show the true value of our opponent," Paolo Vanoli said. "We know the Ferraris is one of the hardest grounds to take points from."

Lecce v Bologna, Sunday 15:00

Bologna changed coach during the slump, replacing Domenico Tedesco with Raffaele Palladino, and added Matteo Darmian. Striker Roberto Piccoli, who spent the 2023-24 season at Lecce, rejected comparisons with Fiorentina's poor start last season: "There is no analogy between this season and Fiorentina's: none. We're only at the fifth matchday." He pointed to the margins of their defeats: "Against Lazio from a throw-in, against Atalanta from a shot in the 96th minute. The only game we deserved to lose was the one at Napoli." Lecce are 12th on 6 points.

Atalanta v Venezia, Monday 18:30

Venezia are still looking for their first point. La Gazzetta dello Sport reports that Giovanni Stroppa's job was put at risk after the defeat to Lazio, and that he has ten injured players. Toma Basic is back in training after missing three games with plantar fasciitis. So far Venezia's goals have come from two forwards, Adams and Yeboah, and two defenders, Sagrado and Hainaut. Their hosts are also under pressure: Maurizio Sarri's Atalanta lost three in a row before the break and sit 11th on 6 points.

Elsewhere in the group on 4 points, Monza visit Lazio on Sunday and Torino host Udinese on Monday night, so the safety line can move before Venezia kick off.