Sassuolo v Sampdoria is a Week 16 match of Serie A and will be played on Wednesday at 12:30: odds, predictions, TV and streaming
Saxuolo’s season so far has been one of total discontinuity, which has nothing to do with the ambitious championships that the neroverdi have played in recent years, coming close to qualifying for Europe on several occasions. This time the bar seems to have been lowered instead of raised, also due to the many injuries – Traoré and Berardi among them – which have made coach Alessio Dionisi’s job more complicated.
The Emilian team starts from the meagre spoils – unsatisfactory for the potential of the squad – of 16 points in 15 matches: for now the salvation fight does not concern them, considering the gulf between the third-last and fourth-last position, but the step back compared to the past is clear. Before the break for the World Cup, Sassuolo had suffered an ugly defeat in the derby against Bologna (3-0), the fifth in the last seven days. Since October, in fact, the neroverdi have only been able to beat bottom-of-the-table Verona. In the dock is the attack, which, without captain Berardi, has rediscovered itself as not very prolific: the average of one goal per match goes against the numbers that Dionisi’s team had accustomed us to.
Sassuolo will try to start the year on the right foot against a Sampdoria in full crisis, both sporting and corporate. The situation, according to the latest rumours, is dramatic: the club has still not been sold and the future looks increasingly uncertain.
Quagliarella and Gabbiadini
Dejan Stankovic and his men will try to concentrate solely on things on the pitch, with the aim of improving a league table that does not look good. The blucerchiati are penultimate, in the middle of the relegation zone, and so far the benefits of the change in the bench have not been seen: after the first victory against Cremonese, four defeats in a row have arrived in which Samp has not scored a single goal.
Sassuolo-Sampdoria: latest line-up news
Dionisi has to make a change at centre-back given the injury to Maxime Lopez. In place of the former Marseille man will be former duty player Obiang, flanked by Frattesi and Thorstvedt. Berardi is back up front, and together with Laurienté – one of the most positive players in the first part of the season – and Pinamonti will form the attacking trident. In defence, Toljan and Rogerio should win out over Muldur and Kyriakopoulos, while goalkeeper Consigli, who has been struggling with flu for the last few days, will have no problems.
On the other side, Stankovic could immediately debut the two new signings, just arrived from Udinese and Empoli respectively: Nuytinck in defence and Lammers in attack. The former Atalanta man will take the place of Caputo, who ended up back in Tuscany, alongside Gabbiadini. The absences of Quagliarella and the disqualified Djuricic weigh heavily.
The prediction
Sampdoria have a disastrous goal average: in fifteen matches they have scored only six goals, for what is obviously the worst attack in the tournament. That’s why we don’t expect a spectacular match, also considering that Sassuolo have almost never shone from an offensive point of view in this championship. The Emiliani are not very solid at the back (22 goals conceded), but this seems like a good opportunity to return to a clean sheet, moreover against the team with which they have most often kept their goal unbeaten in Serie A. A win for the neroverdi is not to be ruled out
Sassuolo v Sampdoria matchday squad
- SASSUOLO (4-3-3): Consigli; Toljan, Erlic, Ferrari, Rogerio; Frattesi, Obiang, Thorstvedt; Berardi, Pinamonti, Laurienté.
- SAMPDORIA (3-5-2): Audero; Bereszynski, Nuytinck, Amione; Leris, Rincon, Villar, Verre, Augello; Gabbiadini, Lammers.
POSSIBLE RESULT: 2-0
