Sampdoria host Hellas Verona in the early Sunday match in week nine of Serie A.
I Blucerchiati come into the match following a 2-0 defeat at the hands of Serie A newcomers Frosinone. Sampdoria began the campaign well with a three match unbeaten streak, collecting seven points. Since then they have failed to avoid defeat in back to back games, while only collecting four points from their previous five matches.
The Mastini, meanwhile, have managed only five points from their first eight matches and currently sit in 18th place, two points adrift from Empoli, and safety. Verona have though managed back to back positive results beginning with a draw in the Derby della Scala and a draw against Udinese at the Stadio Bentegodi last week. However Verona are still yet to win in Serie A this season and coach Andrea Mandorlini is under huge pressure to collect three points against Samp.
Sampdoria took four out of possible six points from Verona last year. The Blucerchiati dominated in a 3-1 away win thanks to goals from Eder, Stefano Okaka and now Napoli striker Manolo Gabbiadini. The game at Samp finished at 1-1 with Lorenzo De Silvestri scoring for the Blucerchiati and none other than the ageless Luca Toni for the Mastini.
Sampdoria hold the advantage in head-to-head matches since 2011 with four wins, drawing twice and managing only one loss.
Both squads are dealing with a rash of injuries. Blucerchiati manager Walter Zenga will be without Andrea Coda, Matias Silvestre, Djamel Mesbah, Lorenzo De Silvestri, Edgar Barreto, Lazaros Christodoulopoulos and Nenad Krsticic.
Mastini coach Andrea Mandorlini will have the same problems facing him when taking the pitch. Missing from Verona’s lineup will be Federico Viviani, Romulo, Mohamed Fares, and Luca Toni.
Form Guide: Sampdoria (L-W-L-D-L) Hellas Verona (D-D-L-L-D-D)
Expected Starting XIs:
Sampdoria: Viviano; Pereira, Moisander, Zukanovic, Regini; Ivan, Soriano, Fernando; Correa, Muriel, Eder
Hellas Verona: Rafael; Pisano, Moras, Marquez, Souprayen; Greco, Sala, Hallfredsson; Gomez, Pazzini, Siligardi
Infographic from www.sporticos.com
