Sampdoria vs Cagliari

Sampdoria are winners of 3 straight and will be going for their 4^th when they return home to the Stadio Luigi Ferraris at Marassi to host a Cagliari outfit who are also on a winning streak of their own. The sardi have responded with back to back wins as they make one last, late season push in hopes of staving off relegation in miracle fashion.

The blucerchiati enter week 30 of Serie A in 6^th place of the league table with 45 points. Their 3 match win streak has seen them make up 6 points on AC Milan and they now sit just 1 point back of 5^th place Milan and 1 point ahead of 7^th place Udinese. They have produced 3 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss in their last 5 games and the unbeaten run stands at 4. Sampdoria manager Mazzarri believes his side is playing its best football of the season and the ironic point is that they have won all 3 of their matches without their most emblematic striker- Antonio Cassano- who has been out suspended. This match to Cagliari will be his 4^th match out due to suspension. He joins Lucchini and Delvecchio on the suspended list while Montella and Volpe remain out injured. Campagnaro should once again be available and he is expected to start on the bench.

Cagliari are in last place of the Serie A table with 24 points for the year. They are 2 points back of both Reggina and Empoli and if the season were to end today, all 3 clubs would drop to Serie B. However, Cagliari have shown some life of late. They are winners of 3 straight matches at home and have produced 3 wins and 2 losses over their last 5 games. On Wednesday they held serve over Atalanta by a score of 1-0 at the Stadio Sant’Elia. However, if they are to pull off the miracle and climb out of last place and the relegation zone, they must continue to win. The injured list this week consists of Marchini, Shala, Bianco and Parola who is currently listed as very doubtful while Fini is out suspended. With both Fini and Parola missing, manager Ballardini looks ready to go with Cossu in central midfield with Biondini and Conti on the flanks.

Cagliari’s resurgence this week has been inspiring but now cold, hard reality is about to set in as they must win away from home. There is a reason why Cagliari are currently 20^th out of 20 Serie A clubs and their numbers away from home speak volumes as to why. In 14 road games they have 1 win, 3 draws and 10 losses while scoring 11 goals and conceding 29. Those numbers do not bode too well for an away day against a quality side like Sampdoria who have won 3 straight and have AC Milan in their crosshairs.

Prediction: Sampdoria (2-0)