Juventus vs Sampdoria

Juventus return home to the Stadio Olimpico di Torino to host Sampdoria needing to win to keep pace with both Roma and Inter Milan at the top of the Serie A table. They will host a Sampdoria outfit who have been fairly consistent this season but not too impressive when playing away from home.

Claudio Ranieri’s club are currently in 3^rd place of the Serie A table with 36 points on the season. They are 3 points back of 2^nd place Roma and 10 points back of Inter Milan while holding a 4 point edge on Udinese. They had two matches over the last week, first drawing away to Catania, 1-1, in their last league match and then defeating Empoli 5-3 midweek to advance in the Coppa Italia. David Trezeguet continues to pace the club with 13 goals scored. The vecchia signora are on a very strong run at this time which has seen them go 9 matches without a loss thanks to a superb defensive record evidenced by the 3 goals they have conceded over their last 6 games. There is some good news this week on the injury front with Italy international Mauro German Camoranesi finally resuming training. Meanwhile, Grygera will replace the injured Chiellini in the back line while Birindelli spells Zebina.

Sampdoria are just outside the UEFA Cup zone of the Serie A table with 24 points. They sit one point back of Palermo and 1 point ahead of Napoli in 7^th place. Manager Mazzari’s side are coming off of a strong performance last week which saw them run out deserved winners over Palermo by a score of 3-0 at the Luigi Ferraris. Things are so good at Marassi these days that even Antonio Cassano of all people indicated a change of heart and he is now willing to stay at the club. Unfortunately for Cassano, a muscle problem will keep him out of the match at Juve with Bonazzoli and Bellucci starting in attack. Montella and Kalu are also out this week.

While Samp are certainly capable of giving any Serie A side a good fight, their road record leaves a lot to be desired having lost 7 of 9 matches. Juventus are playing confident football and the 5 goals against Empoli confirmed that they can score in high numbers when needed. Look for Juve to get the job done at home this week.

Prediction: Juve (2-0)