Languishing in the Serie A drop zone ahead of their return to action, Sampdoria journey south to meet Salernitana on Sunday afternoon.
Separated only by two points and one place from their promoted hosts, Samp are struggling to adapt to the methods of Roberto D'Aversa and have now lost four of their last five games - including three on the spin before the break.
Match preview
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Following a third consecutive defeat against Bologna a fortnight ago, pressure has continued to mount on Sampdoria's beleaguered coaching staff, as they attempt to chart a course for the kind of mid-table security achieved under previous boss Claudio Ranieri.
Losing at home to a side that had previously failed to win on the road for a total of nine Serie A matches came as a body blow to Roberto D'Aversa and company, who pulled level in the closing stages but were quickly undone by a Marko Arnautovic winner for the visiting Rossoblu.
Previously, a third successive away defeat saw them beaten 3-0 by Torino, as a worrying trend of conceding heavily continued. Much in the manner of the Parma squad that sank into Serie B under D'Aversa last term, Samp are leaking goals at an alarming rate of more than two per game.
Defeat for the Blucerchiati in Salerno would mark their worst Serie A start after 13 matches since the turn of the century, so the German-born tactician must surely be fearing the sack if his team fail to take the points back to Liguria.
Problems exist not only at the back for Sampdoria, but also up front, as an ageing forward line seems to have run out of steam, and only 34-year-old Antonio Candreva - recently awarded October's goal of the month prize for his screamer against Udinese - has routinely responded to the demands of firing up a failing side.
With four goals and three assists to date, Candreva has outshone fellow veterans Francesco Caputo (three goals in 12 matches) and Fabio Quagliarella, who has hit the net only once this term. Serie A's 18th-placed side, though, will need more from that department if they are to make up for a disorganised defensive unit in the coming games.
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While Sampdoria continue to underperform, Salernitana have more or less matched expectations upon their return to the top flight this season.
The modest Campanian club are just a point and a place off the foot of the table with nearly a third of the campaign completed, and have failed to score in a league-high six Serie A games this season.
Having already switched managers, the Granata managed to pick up a couple of wins during October but have also been beaten by fellow relegation candidates Empoli and Spezia in recent weeks.
Just before the international break, a crushing 3-0 defeat at Stadio Olimpico - to a dominant Lazio - saw Stefano Colantuono's men fail to register a single shot on target, but they would not have had that fixture down as anything but a hit-and-hope before the campaign began.
Sunday's match-up with an ailing Samp side represents an altogether better opportunity for Salernitana to accumulate some precious points in pursuit of survival.
Four defeats in five at Stadio Arechi, though, means that confidence will be fragile in the camp, despite their opponents' ongoing travails.
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Team News
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Sampdoria continue to be without the young trio of Mikkel Damsgaard, Mohamed Ihattaren and Ronaldo Vieira this weekend, while they will also miss midfield regular Adrien Silva, who continues to serve a suspension.
Barring a desperate change of tactics as he fights to save his job, Roberto D'Aversa will persist with a 4-4-2 formation, led by 'Ciccio' Caputo and Manolo Gabbiadini up front.
Meanwhile, Swedish midfielder Albin Ekdal should deputise once again for Silva in the centre, and top scorer Antonio Candreva provides an attacking threat from wide on the right.
Salernitana's Stefan Strandberg is set to be sidelined after picking up an adductor injury representing Norway in World Cup qualifying, and he joins Mamadou Coulibaly and Atalanta loanee Matteo Ruggeri in missing Sampdoria's visit.
Furthermore, Frederic Veseli has only trained individually this week due to a calf problem, having previously been out of action with COVID-19, so will make the bench at best.
Stefano Colantuono is therefore poised to include both Lassana Coulibaly and Grigoris Kastanos in his central midfield trio, with Franck Ribery supporting misfiring forward Simy up front - though Federico Bonazzoli is another potential candidate to lead the line against his parent club.
Salernitana possible starting lineup:
Belec; Zortea, Gyomber, Gagliolo, Ranieri: L. Coulibaly, Di Tacchio, Kastanos; Ribery; Simy, Djuric
Sampdoria possible starting lineup:
Audero; Bereszynski, Chabot, Colley, Augello; Candreva, Thorsby, Ekdal, Askildsen; Gabbiadini, Caputo
We say: Salernitana 2-2 Sampdoria
Neither side is secure enough defensively to keep the other out for 90 minutes, as Sampdoria have conceded the most goals in the first half of games during the current Serie A campaign, while Salernitana have let in the joint-most during the second.
For that reason, both teams can thrive in the final third, as the spoils are shared in Salerno.
Jonathan O'Shea
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Sampdoria win with a probability of 37.27%. A win for Salernitana had a probability of 36.48% and a draw had a probability of 26.3%.
The most likely scoreline for a Sampdoria win was 0-1 with a probability of 9.58%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-2 (8.24%) and 0-2 (6.32%). The likeliest Salernitana win was 1-0 (9.46%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.48%). The actual scoreline of 0-2 was predicted with a 6.3% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Sampdoria would win this match.
