Sampdoria will be looking to continue their strong run of form in Serie A when they play host to Cagliari at the Stadio Communale Luigi Ferraris on Wednesday evening.
Meanwhile, Cagliari have dropped out of the running for a European berth following a four-game winless run in the Italian top flight.
Match preview
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Having had time to dust themselves off from a 2-0 defeat to a free-scoring Atalanta side, Sampdoria returned to winning ways with a comfortable 3-1 victory over Udinese on Sunday.
At the ripe old age of 37, Fabio Quagliarella netted once more to take himself into double figures for the campaign, although last season's Capocannoniere recipient will certainly not surpass his 2018-19 tally of 26 goals with just six games remaining.
Nevertheless, the victory over Udinese means that Sampdoria have now tasted victory in three of their last four matches in the Italian top flight, and Claudio Ranieri's men have a comfortable margin of six points separating them from the drop zone as they lie 14th in the table.
Torino can leapfrog Sampdoria if they pick up an unlikely three points against Inter Milan on Monday, but given their current form, Sampdoria should avoid being dragged into a relegation dogfight at this late stage.
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As far as Cagliari are concerned, Walter Zenga was forced to watch his side play out a second goalless stalemate in as many matches as relegation-threatened Lecce held them to a point at the weekend.
Gli Isolani have now failed to find the back of the net in three successive games despite winning their first two upon the return of the Italian top flight, and Cagliari are firmly in mid-table obscurity as they sit 11th on 41 points.
The 11-point lead that sixth-placed Napoli currently hold over Cagliari now seems insurmountable, and Zenga's men will need to arrest their slump sooner rather than later to avoid dropping any further down the table.
The trip to Sampdoria potentially represents Cagliari's most winnable away fixture of their remaining three, as Gli Isolani still have to make the journey to AC Milan and Lazio, but Cagliari have only managed to amass one win from their last 11 away outings in Serie A.
A seven-goal thriller in the reverse fixture eventually saw Cagliari come out trumps courtesy of a 4-3 scoreline, with Alberto Cerri netting Gli Isolani's winner six minutes into injury time.
Sampdoria Serie A form: LLWWLW
Cagliari Serie A form: WWDLDD
Team News
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Sampdoria's Alex Ferrari continues to recover from a cruciate ligament rupture and will not feature again until next season.
Ronaldo Vieira is also struggling with a patella injury and will sit this one out, while Lorezno Tonelli is nursing a bruised knee.
Ranieri may be reluctant to make too many changes to his side given their impressive recent form, but Jakub Jankto will be hopeful of earning a recall to the starting XI.
As for Cagliari, Zenga will be without the services of Leonardo Pavoletti with a knee problem, while Christian Oliva and Luca Pellegrini are unavailable through ankle injuries.
Radja Nainggolan was hauled off on the half-hour mark against Lecce with a muscular problem, and it seems unlikely that the Belgian midfielder will make the starting lineup in midweek.
Sampdoria possible starting lineup:
Audero; Bereszynski, Colley, Yoshida, Murru; Depaoli, Ekdal, Thorsby, Jankto; Ramirez; Quagliarella
Cagliari possible starting lineup:
Cragno; Walukiewicz, Klavan, Pisacane; Nandez, Rog, Cigarini, Ionita, Lykogiannis; Simeone, Pedro
We say: Sampdoria 2-0 Cagliari
Sampdoria will go into this game brimming with confidence after taking nine points from their last 12 on offer, whereas Cagliari seem to have lost their shooting boots at this crucial stage of the campaign. As a result, we expect the home side to enjoy a comfortable victory in midweek.
Ben Knapton
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Sampdoria win with a probability of 43.74%. A win for Cagliari had a probability of 29.94% and a draw had a probability of 26.3%.
The most likely scoreline for a Sampdoria win was 1-0 with a probability of 11.06%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (8.91%) and 2-0 (7.88%). The likeliest Cagliari win was 0-1 (8.79%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.51%). The actual scoreline of 3-0 was predicted with a 3.7% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Sampdoria would win this match.
