Genoa vs Sampdoria

Genoa and Sampdoria meet in another installment of the Genoa derby at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris at Marassi. With Genoa having spent a good part of the decade in Serie B, this match up has not been a prevalent making it all the more special this time around. The two sides are coming off of positive results in week 22.

Il grifone find themselves in 9^th place of Serie A with 29 points on the present campaign. They sit 1 point back of 8^th place Atalanta Bergamo and 1 point ahead of 10^th place Palermo. They are coming off of a 1-1 draw away to Livorno a week ago at the Stadio Armando Picchi. They are unbeaten over their last two matches. There are some important absences this week for manager Gasperini with Wilson out injured while Sculli and Santos are both suspended. Gasperini was having trouble finding a replacement for Sculli upfront to go along with Leon so he has finally decided on switching his formation this week to a 3-4-3 with Leon, Borriello, and Rossi featuring in a 3 man attack. The good news is that starting keeper Rubinho will be able to start despite a scare earlier in the week because of injury.

Sampdoria held serve at home last week with a 2-0 victory over Napoli. The win leaves them in 7^th place with 31 points, 2 back of 6^th place Udinese and 1 ahead of 8^th place Atalanta. They are playing very well of late and have posted 3 wins and 1 draw over their last 5 matches while conceding just 2 goals over their last 4 games. The injured list remains virtually unchanged this week with Montella and Sammarco out while Gastaldello is suspended. This will allow manager Mazzari to go with a 3-5-2 that will be very close to his ideal starting eleven with both Bellucci and Antonio Cassano in attack.

While the blucerchiati have lost 8 of 11 road matches this season, this is no ordinary day away from home. A derby is always something special and with both sides separated by only 2 points in the league table expect this match to be very close and hard fought.

Prediction: Draw (0-0)