Sampdoria vs Juventus

Juventus are on the road to visit Sampdoria as they close out the 2007-2008 Serie A season at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris. Sampdoria are coming off of a win on the road in week 37 while Juventus were held to a disappointing draw at home.

Sampdoria come into this contest in 6^th place of the league table with 59 points for the year. They sit 2 points back of 5^th place AC Milan and 2 points ahead of 7^th place Udinese. Given that the blucerchiati sit 4 points back of Fiorentina they can no longer qualify for the Champions League and instead will participate in the UEFA Cup next season. Sampdoria scored a 0-2 victory away to Napoli at the Stadio San Paolo in their last match. The victory over Napoli was Samp’s first in 3 games. This week manager Mazzari is expected to be missing Castellazzi, Volpi, Kalu, Lucchini and Bellucci. Look for the Sampdoria to go with a 3-5-2 featuring Bonazzoli and Cassano in attack.

Juventus played to a 1-1 draw at home to Catania in their week 37 match at the Stadio Olimpico di Torino. The draw leaves the side managed by Claudio Ranieri in 3^rd place of Serie A with 71 points on the season. They sit 8 points ahead of 4^th place Fiorentina and 10 back of 2^nd place AS Roma. Juventus will finish this season in 3^rd place and will play the qualifying round of the Champions League next season. The vecchia signora have now won just 1 point from their last 2 games and come into this contest with a number of absences including starting keeper Gigi Buffon along with Andrade and Iaquinta who are injured. Grygera, Nocerino and Mauro German Camoranesi are the players out suspended this week. One incentive Juventus have coming into this game is that they will want to help David Trezeguet score a goal as that could help him win the Serie A golden boot.

With the clubs having their final positions in the Serie A league table set this could promise to be a very open and entertaining match. There will not be any pressure to speak of, and with Trezeguet so close to the scoring title you can expect him to take a lot of shots at the net along with any penalty kick possibilities that could arise.

Prediction: Draw (1-1)