Roma vs Sampdoria: Preview and Prediction

Roma vs Sampdoria
2016/17 Italian Serie A.
Date: Sunday, 11 September 2016
Kick-Off: 14:00 UK,
Venue: Stadio Olimpico (Rome).

Jekyll and Hyde. That is how to best describe Roma’s performances so far this season. The Giallorossi kicked things off with a 1-1 draw versus Porto in Champions League qualifying. Fair enough, considering they got an away goal. Then there was the 4-0 thrashing of Udinese, which saw them score all four goals within 20 second-half minutes.

But then Luciano Spalletti’s men took on Porto for the home leg. Thanks to their away goal, all Roma needed was a draw and they would join Juventus and Napoli as Italy’s representatives in the Champions League. Inexplicably, it all fell apart. Not only did they lose, but did so in a rather embarrassing fashion. A 3-0 score-line was the result in an utter shambolic performance that saw them finish the game with nine men on the pitch.

So now, having thrown away a two goal lead to draw with Cagliari in round two, the Lupi will be hungry to taste victory on match day three. However, their next opponents, Sampdoria, have been in solid form. They’ve won two in two, albeit Roma will represent much tougher competitors than Empoli or Atalanta.

Roma vs Sampdoria: Head-to-head statistics

• Roma haven’t lost in Serie A since January 24, 2016 (1-0 to Juventus)
• Last term, the Giallorossi scored an average of 2.32 goals/game at home (versus league average of 1.47) and conceded 0.89/game (compared to league average of 1.11)
• Sampdoria won just two of their 19 away fixtures last season
• Their last win over Roma, however, was in March 2015 (2-0) at the Stadio Olimpico.

Roma vs Sampdoria: Prediction

Roma won both meetings last season (2-1), but Sampdoria did beat them 18 months ago at the Stadio Olimpico Nonetheless, Spalletti will be demanding a drastically improved performance from his troops ahead of their Europa League tie with Viktoria Plzen.

They will welcome a Sampdoria side with no injuries or suspensions of note. Meanwhile, key midfielder Daniele De Rossi is in doubt due to a calf problem, but given his moment of madness against Porto, his absence may not be too detrimental. The visitors will put up a good fight, but they simply don’t have the attacking arsenal Spaletti has at his disposal. Also, the Lupi will want to head into their European fixture with some positive momentum. A 2-1 result sounds pretty realistic as Sampdoria suffer their first loss of this season.