Sampdoria vs Reggina

Sampdoria host Reggina in a battle of clubs struggling to find their best form. Sampdoria had much higher expectations at the beginning of the season but have had a hard time stringing victories together. Reggina are in the thick of the relegation battle and doing their best to hover above the bottom 3.

The blucerchiati are coming off of a disappointing loss away to 16^th place Livorno in their last match by a score of 3-1 at the Stadio Armando Picchi. The loss was step back for Mazzari’s side as they had bounced back nicely from the 0-5 humiliation at home to AC Milan to post back to back 3-0 wins over Cagliari and Empoli.They are now in tenth place of the league table with 17 points.

Renzo Ulivieri’s Reggina outfit were held to a 0-0 draw at home in their Round 13 match to Fiorentina at the Oreste Granillo. While a draw at home is not usually considered a positive result, given Reggina’s delicate situation in the Serie A table they will take whatever they can get. The draw extended their unbeaten run to 3 straight matches during which they have conceded just 1 goal. Reggina are now in 17^th place with 10 points.

Reggina have some positive news this week on the injury front. Club captain Ciccio Cozza is just about ready to return from injury and should be available off of the bench. The most important development, however, is the return of Lanzaro to the back line. This will allow Ulivieri to slot Aronica on the left, Uruguayan Carlos Valdez in the center, and Lanzaro on the right of a 3 man back line as Reggina switch back to their 3-5-2 set. Their top striker is Amoruso with 5 goals and he is a confirmed starter.

The Sampdoria injury situation is a bit more cluttered. For starters, both Montella and Delvecchio remain out. The good news is that Antonio Cassano has resumed training at full strength and could start on the bench. They look to keep their 3-4-2-1 with top goal scorer Bellucci starting just behind Caracciolo upfront.

Save for the debacle against AC Milan, Sampdoria have been fairly consistent at home with 3 victories and 2 draws in the remaining 5 matches. After losing away to Livorno last week they owe it to their supporters to come back with a strong performance. Livorno are winless in 6 road matches this season having picked up 4 draws and 2 losses along the way. Samp should find a way to get the job done this week.

 

Prediction: Samp hold serve at home 2-1