Lazio vs Sampdoria

SS Lazio are home to Sampdoria at the Stadio Olimpico as they look to build off of the modest success they enjoyed in their draw away to Torino of a week ago in order to snap their current winless run. Meanwhile, Sampdoria are a victory and some help away from finding themselves in the upper third of the Serie A table.

The biancocelesti are currently in 14^th place of the league table with 20 points on the present campaign. The 20 points position them 1 point back of Livorno and 1 point ahead of 15^th place Parma. The side managed by Delio Rossi have been the model of inconsistency this season and wins have been very hard to come by. They have not won in their last 5 matches; instead they have posted 3 draws to go along with 2 losses at home. There is some slight optimism however as they were able to pick up back to back draws away from home against Napoli and Torino. There are a number of injury concerns this week including Meghni, Firmani, Zauri and Mutarelli with Kolarov and Bianchi out suspended. Dabo looks set to cover the left wing for Mutarelli with Rocchi and top scorer Goran Pandev upfront.

The blucerchiati are in 7^th place of the Serie A table with 28 points, 2 back of 6^th place AC Milan. They are coming off of a 1-0 win at home over Siena at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris which extended their current win streak to 3 matches. They have not conceded a goal over those 3 games which includes a 0-0 draw away to Juventus. The injured list this week includes Lucchini, Kalu, Montella and Sammarco. Manager Mazzarri looks set to go with a 3-5-2 formation featuring top scorer Bellucci in attack alongside Antonio Cassano.

While Lazio have not exactly been dominant at home with just 3 wins from 10 home matches this year to go along with 2 draws and 5 losses, Sampdoria tend to struggle away from home. In fact, they have lost 7 of 10 road matches with one draw. Still, their current form and more importantly the strength the back line has been show in posting 3 straight clean sheets tends to signal a good performance. Look for Samp to hold out for at least 1 point.

Prediction: Draw (0-0)