Serie A basement dwellers Sampdoria will be looking to avoid further humiliation when Sassuolo travel to Stadio Luigi Ferraris on Friday night.
The hosts find themselves six points adrift at the foot of the table, while the visitors sit 26 points above La Samp with two matches remaining.
Match preview
© Reuters
To say that Sampdoria have endured a disappointing campaign would be a colossal understatement, as the former Serie A champions have managed to win just three of their 36 league games this season, suffering 24 defeats in the process.
Worse still, La Samp have netted a measly 22 goals this term, making them the lowest scorers in the division, and they also possess the worst defensive record in Italy's top tier, having conceded 67 goals.
As a result, Dejan Stankovic's men find themselves 13 points from safety with six points left to play for, and they head into Friday's clash on the back of a 5-1 thrashing at the hands of AC Milan, with an Olivier Giroud hat-trick compounding Sampdoria's problems.
The Genoa outfit have failed to win any of their last nine matches, losing four of their previous five, with only one victory coming in their previous 21 encounters across all competitions.
Having lost 11 of their 18 home league games this season – picking up a solitary win along the way – Sampdoria are preparing for life in the second tier for the first time since 2011-12, having spent 11 successive seasons in the top flight.
© Reuters
It would not be unfair to say that Sassuolo have also experienced a below-par 2022-23 season, as the Neroverdi find themselves six points outside the top half ahead of the penultimate round of fixtures.
Given that Sassuolo finished eighth in 2019-20 and 2020-21 before ending the previous campaign in 11th place, Alessio Dionisi's men will be eager to win their remaining two matches and finish the season on a high.
When Sassuolo notched six victories in eight games between January and March, they looked destined to finish in the top half of the table, but the Emilia-Romagna outfit have struggled for consistency since then.
Having recorded two wins, two draws and five losses across their previous nine outings, the Neroverdi head into Friday's showdown in unpredictable form, giving Sampdoria a glimmer of hope.
It is also worth noting that Sassuolo have lost each of their last four away league outings – and nine of their previous 14 – while Dionisi's men have conceded at least two goals in seven of their last eight matches on the road.
Team News
© Reuters
Sampdoria will be without long-term injury absentees Andrea Conti and Ignacio Pussetto for the remainder of the campaign, while Emil Audero and Abdelhamid Sabiri are expected to miss Friday's clash.
Forty-year-old forward Fabio Quagliarella will continue to lead the line after scoring in Serie A for the 18th consecutive season, with fellow veteran Manolo Gabbiadini supporting the lone striker.
Tottenham Hotspur loanee Harry Winks will likely line up alongside Tomas Rincon and Filip Duricic in the middle of the park, while Nicola Ravaglia will retain his place between the sticks.
On the flip side, Sassuolo will be without injured pair Armand Lauriente and Agustin Alvarez for the rest of the season, with the latter sustaining an ACL rupture earlier this month.
Lauriente has bagged seven goals and six assists this term, so his influence will be missed in the final two games, although star man Domenico Berardi will be hopeful of enhancing his tally of 11 goals and seven assists.
Suspended defender Ruan Tressoldi will miss the trip to Genoa after picking up a red card last time out, meaning that Gian Marco Ferrari should partner Martin Erlic at centre-back.
Sampdoria possible starting lineup:
Ravaglia; Zanoli, Gunter, Nuytinck, Aguello; Rincon; Leris, Winks, Duricic, Gabbiadini; Quagliarella
Sassuolo possible starting lineup:
Consigli; Toljan, Erlic, Ferrari, Rogerio; Frattesi, Lopez, Henrique; Berardi, Pinamonti, Bajrami
We say: Sampdoria 1-2 Sassuolo
Having claimed a measly three league wins all season, Sampdoria's campaign looks set to go from bad to worse on Friday, as Sassuolo are expected to inflict yet another defeat on the division's bottom club.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
