Sampdoria-Napoli is a Serie A Week 17 match played on Sunday at 18:00: odds, predictions, TV and streaming.
Napoli fans’ fears of a possible drop in the second half of the season were suddenly realised on the night at the San Siro. A second-half strike from Bosnian striker Dzeko not only put a spice back into the Scudetto fight, but also ended the unbeaten streak of Luciano Spalletti’s Azzurri, who had won eleven in a row and were unbeaten in the first three months of Serie A.
The Milanese version of Napoli has little to do with the ‘Martian’ one we left behind in November. Against Inter, we saw a less aggressive, more compassed team, which limited itself to dominating possession but without stinging much. Indeed, there had been some alarm bells ringing in the last international friendlies, but they were results that we preferred to take with a grain of salt. Spalletti did not hide his disappointment: at the same time, however, he tried to play it down, focusing on the upcoming engagement at Marassi with Sampdoria. Napoli remain five points ahead of AC Milan and seven ahead of Juventus, who will visit the Azzurri in exactly one week’s time. The match in Genoa will probably tell whether the false step at the San Siro was a sporadic episode or the sign of a worrying drop in performance.
Oxygen supply for Stankovic
The Blucerchiata, on the other hand, have just lifted their heads after the four defeats in a row at the turn of October and November, clinching their second win in the league.
Augello and Gabbiadini
Gabbiadini and Augello in the first half hour tamed Sassuolo, who merely shortened the gap in the second half with Berardi’s penalty. An important breath of fresh air for Dejan Stankovic, also in the light of the bad news coming in regarding the possible sale of the club, which risks drowning in debt if it does not change hands. There is still a lot of work to be done – Samp is third to last, five points from the salvation zone – but the success in Reggio Emilia is a good injection of confidence.
Sampdoria-Napoli: the latest line-up news
Bereszynski was officially handed over to Napoli yesterday, with Zanoli going the other way. Stankovic could therefore adapt Murru on the right-hand side of defence, also having to do without the disqualified Amione. The centre-backs instead will be Murillo and Nuytinck: Colley is struggling with the flu and is not fit to play. In the middle Vieira should win the ballot with Villar, while in attack Gabbiadini and Lammers will be supported by Djuricic, this time in trequartista version.
In Napoli, Spalletti plans to replace Politano with Lozano, but there could also be changes in defence. Rrahmani, who was not blameless in the Inter goal, is threatened by Juan Jesus, while on the left Mario Rui is preparing to return from the 1′ in place of Olivera. The midfield will still consist of Anguissa, Zielinski and Lobotka.
The Prediction
Sampdoria have yet to win in front of their home crowd, barely scoring two goals in their home games. And in this case it is almost a tailspin, as no one has scored more goals away from home than Napoli: Spalletti’s side boast the best away attack in the league. The Azzurri’s reaction will be there, even if the Blucerchiati, revitalised by their feat against Sassuolo, will be a hard sell: it cannot be ruled out that they will be able to find the way of the goal in a match in which the total number of goals will most likely be at least three.
The likely Sampdoria v Napoli line-up
- SAMPDORIA (4-3-1-2): Audero; Murru, Murillo, Nuytinck, Augello; Leris, Vieira, Rincon; Djuricic; Gabbiadini, Lammers.
- NAPOLI (4-3-3): Meret; Di Lorenzo, Rrahmani, Kim, Mario Rui; Zambo Anguissa, Lobotka, Zielinski; Lozano, Osimhen, Kvaratskhelia.
POSSIBLE RESULT: 1-3
