Sampdoria v Genoa – Preview: Local pride on the line in Derby della Lanterna

Date: 7th May 2016 at 2:53pm
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sampdoriaBoth clubs will be looking to return to winning ways in Serie A’s penultimate round when Genoa meet Sampdoria in Sunday’s Derby della Lanterna at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris.

With the two Genoese outfits resigned to finishing the season below expectations, the Derby provides an opportunity for the teams to provide their respective fans some joy by claiming victory over their closest rivals.

The Grifone enter the match standing 12th in Serie A, following two successive losses to Bologna and Roma which followed a shock 1-0 win over Inter and an embarrassing 4-1 loss to Carpi.

Such inconsistencies have haunted coach Gian Piero Gasperini for the entire season but he will no doubt be hoping to end on a positive note.

Meanwhile the Blucerchiati stand three points behind their rivals in 15th off the back of a mixed bag of results including last week’s 2-0 loss to Palermo, an impressive 2-1 win over Lazio and a draw away to Sassuolo.

With relegation all but mathematically impossible, Vincenzo Montella’s men do not have an abundant amount to play for apart from their pride. Though with the knowledge that a win would see them jump Genoa in the Serie A standings may provide that extra bit of motivation for Sunday’s derby.

The recent head-to-head record between the clubs favours Montella, with Genoa winning only once in their last seven encounters while Sampdoria came out on top on four occasions.

In this season’s first derby, the Blucerchiati earned victory in a five-goal thriller, winning 3-2, while last season’s corresponding fixture ended in a 1-1 draw.

Another statistic that works against the Grifone is the team has won just two Serie A away matches all season, with only Hellas Verona notching fewer victories away from home.

Though with the Rossoblu of course sharing stadiums with Sampdoria, they will take some comfort in Sunday’s match and look to improve on their away statistic.

Montella will be without the suspended Nenad Krsticic for the derby while Carlos Carbonero and Niklas Moisander will also miss out through injury.

For Gasperini, there are no suspensions to speak of while Mattia Perin remains his only squad member unavailable through injury.

Genoa could climb to 10th with a win however could find themselves as low as 15th, behind Sampdoria, if the result goes the other way.

Form Guide: Sampdoria (W-L-D-W-L) Genoa (W-L-W-L-L)

Expected Starting XIs:

Sampdoria (3-5-1-1): Viviano; Diakite, Ranocchia, Cassani; De Silvestri, Sala, Fernando, Dodo, Soriano; Alvarez; Quagliarella.

Genoa (3-5-2): Lamanna; Izzo, Burdisso, Munoz; Ansaldi, Rincon, Dzemaili, Rigoni, Gabriel Silva; Pavoletti, Suso.

 

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