Three straight wins have helped Fiorentina stop the rot in Serie A and seal progress in Europe, and they attempt to maintain that momentum on Sunday, when they visit struggling Sampdoria.
The teams meet at Stadio Luigi Ferraris, with Samp sitting 19th in the standings and their visitors five places above them.
Match preview
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Following Sampdoria's latest setback, a 3-0 defeat to Inter last weekend, the Ligurian club have made their worst start to a Serie A campaign. With only six points from their first 12 games, they have tallied less than the seven accrued at this stage in 1947.
Not only that, but they have won just once from their opening dozen for the first time since the mid-70s. Only by a single point, then, Samp remain off the bottom of the table.
Having come in at the interval already trailing 2-0 at San Siro last time out, the Blucerchiati have now conceded 13 times in the first half of league games this season; more than any other side. Indeed, nine of have been leaked in the opening half-hour - again, that is more than any other team in the division.
Until being on the wrong end of the result against Inter, Samp had shown slight signs of progress under the management of new coach Dejan Stankovic, who led his charges into the next round of the Coppa Italia and posted a first Serie A success of the season by securing victory over Cremonese.
They will now aim to bounce straight back and record a third home win on the spin versus Fiorentina for the first time since 1993, in a fixture where there have been three wins apiece in the clubs' most recent meetings.
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While their opponents have been occupied with recovering from a wretched start to the season, Fiorentina recently sealed progress to the knockout stage of the Europa Conference League, then ensured they would finish top of Group A by beating Latvia's RFS on Thursday night.
Antonin Barak opened the scoring after just seven minutes in Riga, before Arthur Cabral and Riccardo Saponara all but ended the game as a contest with goals just before the break.
The Viola are therefore heading straight for the last 16 without facing a playoff against one of the eight Europa League drop-outs, so can return their focus to domestic matters, where things have gone awry this term.
An indifferent start to the campaign - winning only four of their first 14 games across all competitions - saw Fiorentina languishing uncomfortably close to the Serie A drop zone, but a 2-1 victory at Spezia last Sunday at least halted their fall.
On that occasion, summer signing Cabral sprang off the bench at Stadio Alberto Picco to net a dramatic 90th-minute winner; bringing Vincenzo Italiano's men their first away win of the season.
This weekend, they could win consecutive road games for the first time in Serie A since September 2021, and despite being the visitors, will expect to dominate the ball at Marassi.
Fiorentina are one of seven sides in the top five European Leagues to average more than 60% of possession this term, along with big names Bayern Munich, Manchester City, Barcelona, Liverpool, Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain. Thus far they have only lacked a finishing touch, but with both Cabral and Luka Jovic clicking into gear, Samp may have their hands full on Sunday.
Team News
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Though Francesco Caputo's last home goal in Serie A came back in April, and he has drawn a blank in eight matches at Marassi since then, the Italy international should start up front for Sampdoria once more; aiming to end his longest such run in the top flight.
Dejan Stankovic could be without Ignacio Pussetto again this weekend, while Samp still await the return of Harry Winks, as the Englishman's debut remains on hold.
Abdelhamid Sabiri is also set to be sidelined, so Mehdi Leris may continue as part of the support network for lone striker Caputo. Meanwhile, Valerio Verre is suspended.
While their hosts have struggled to score, Fiorentina have also misfired this season: no one player has scored more than two Serie A goals for the Viola so far. However, after finding the winner against Spezia last week and then again in Europe, Arthur Cabral will be pushing Luka Jovic – who has netted four times in the Conference League - to feature up front.
Argentinian winger Nicolas Gonzalez remains out of action with a hamstring injury, Riccardo Sottil is also unavailable, while Gaetano Castrovilli will not be back until 2023.
As Sofyan Amrabat is also a doubt, Alfred Duncan will be on standby to replace him in central midfield.
Sampdoria possible starting lineup:
Audero; Bereszynski, Ferrari, Colley, Augello; Villar, Rincon; Gabbiadini, Djuricic, Leris; Caputo
Fiorentina possible starting lineup:
Terracciano; Dodo, Milenkovic, Martinez Quarta, Biraghi; Bonaventura, Amrabat, Mandragora; Ikone, Jovic, Kouame
We say: Sampdoria 1-2 Fiorentina
Both sides have found the net in every one of their last 13 Serie A meetings since 2015, in a fixture which averages 3.6 goals per game. Neither has been prolific this term, but with Fiorentina finally finding their shooting boots, the visitors can head back to Tuscany with three points in their pocket.
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Top tip
Jonathan O'Shea
