Sassuolo – Sampdoria

Both teams are capable of scoring in this match

Sampdoria's first half of the league cannot be described as anything other than a failure. The team scored just six points in 15 meetings and found themselves in last but one place in the table. The arrival of Dejan Stankovic in October seemed to have cheered the club up a little. The Genoa side drew with Bologna and defeated Cremonese in the league, and managed to beat Ascoli in the cup encounter. But the end of the year was not at all the best for Sampdoria. Thus, the team lost to Inter, Fiorentina, Torino and Lecce on aggregate goal difference (0-9). Nevertheless, the friendlies during the off-season offer little cause for celebration. The Serbian coach seems to be gradually improving the club's attacking performance. Although their opponents were far from the top clubs, the Genoa side regularly scored at least two goals. And this is a good indicator, given the fact that Sampdoria have scored only six (!) times in the league. Sassuolo were also far lower than usual. With four wins and the same number of draws the 'Neroverdi are sitting in 15th place in the championship. As with their current opponents, the team finished the year poorly. In the last four rounds, Dionisi's side have produced just one point. Yes, a draw with Roma can certainly be credited, but the rest of the encounters ended in a 0-8 goal difference. What's worth highlighting about the Neroverdi's results? At the Citta del Tricolore, only Milan failed to score. In the other six home games, Sassuolo have been consistently outstanding. With xG, the team should have differed by 3.23 goals more. Sampdoria remain one of the most "under-scoring" teams in many ways. In particular, the Genoese scored 5.67 less xG goals and were 6.43 points shorthanded. The opponents failed in the first part of the championship. Both clubs have an obvious lack of goalscoring, and their defensive play is far from reliable. The December break should benefit the clubs, and if not, they are unlikely to avoid personnel changes in the future. We can likely expect a goal exchange from this encounter.