Preview: Sampdoria vs. Bologna - prediction, team news, lineups

Sampdoria will be looking to avoid a third consecutive Serie A defeat when they welcome Bologna to the Luigi Ferraris on Sunday afternoon.

Meanwhile, the Rossoblu are hoping to end a miserable run of nine league games away from home without a win.

Match preview

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Sampdoria suffered their third successive away defeat in Serie A when they were convincingly beaten 3-0 against Torino last weekend.

Leicester City loanee Dennis Praet put the hosts in front in the 17th minute before second-half strikes from Wilfred Singo and Andrea Belotti condemned the visitors to their sixth league defeat of the campaign.

That result has seen the Blucerchiati – who finished ninth last season – slip down to 15th in the table and just one point above the relegation zone.

Roberto D'Aversa's men have now conceded 23 goals in their opening 11 league games for the first time in their history; after 12 matches, Sampdoria have never shipped more than 24 in the top flight.

In addition, no Serie A side have lost more games than Sampdoria (five) in the last seven top-flight fixtures. Their form will need to improve quickly if they are to avoid a potential regelation battle this season.

Unfortunately for the Blucerchiati, their next game is against a Bologna outfit who have beaten them in each of the last five meetings, scoring at least twice on every occasion.

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Bologna's league form has been patchy throughout this campaign, though they at least sit in a more comfortable position in Serie A than Sunday's opponents, following a 2-0 home victory against Cagliari last weekend.

The deadlock was broken shortly after half time through Lorenzo De Silvestri, before Marko Arnautovic added a second in the 96th minute to seal their fourth win of the season.

All four triumphs, however, have been on home soil for Sinisa Mihajlovic's side and they now travel to Sampdoria as one of only three Serie A teams who are yet to win on the road this campaign.

The Rossoblu can be confident of breaking their duck away from home on Sunday, as they have won their last two games under Mihajlovic at the Luigi Ferraris, both by a 2-1 scoreline.

Bologna have picked up 15 points in their opening 11 Serie A games for the first time since 2002-03, and another victory this weekend could see them move to within one point of the top four if other results were also to go in their favour.

Team News

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Sampdoria are hoping to have Danish playmaker Mikkel Damsgaard available this weekend, though his thigh issue is to be assessed ahead of kickoff.

Midfielders Ronaldo Vieira (thigh) and Valerio Verre (hamstring) will miss the game through injury, while Juventus loanee Mohamed Ihattaren is still in the Netherlands – where he has been since October 12 – due to personal reasons.

Adrien Silva will serve a one-match suspension following his red card last weekend, so Kristoffer Askildsen is set to start in central midfield as a result.

After losing by three goals last weekend, D'Aversa may decide to switch back to a four-man defence, after adopting a 3-4-2-1 formation against Torino.

As for Bologna, Kevin Bonifazi and Kingsley Michael are both ruled out with respective calf and back injuries.

Mihajlovic will likely name a similar side to the one selected last weekend, with central defenders Adama Soumaoro, Gary Medel and Arthur Theate expected to remain in the back three, shielding goalkeeper Lukasz Skorupski.

Arnautovic and Musa Barrow, who have scored four league goals each this season, are set to be joined in attack by Roberto Soriano, who is yet to get his name on the scoresheet this term.

Sampdoria possible starting lineup:

Audero; Bereszynski, Yoshida, Colley, Augello; Thorsby, Ekdal, Askildsen; Candreva, Quagliarella, Caputo

Bologna possible starting lineup:

Skorupski; Soumaoro, Medel, Theate; Silvestri, Dominguez, Svanberg, Hickey; Barrow, Soriano; Arnautovic

We say: Sampdoria 1-2 Bologna

D'Aversa will want a response from his players this weekend as the hosts seek to bounce back from a poor run of form.

However, Bologna head into this contest in much stronger shape and – when also considering their recent head-to-head record – we can see the visitors claiming another slender win at the Luigi Ferraris.