A crucial encounter at the bottom of Serie A takes place on Sunday, when 16th-placed Sampdoria travel to face Venezia, who currently sit four points behind their opponents in 18th spot.
Venezia have a game in hand to their advantage on the three teams above them, but both of these sides will be looking to return to winning ways after three consecutive defeats.
Match preview
© Reuters
Paolo Zanetti's side have only won once in Serie A since November, which has left them firmly in a relegation battle with just 10 games of the campaign to go.
On Monday, Venezia travelled to face fifth-placed Lazio, and despite the hosts registering just one shot on target, the visitors fell to a 1-0 defeat courtesy of Ciro Immobile's converted penalty kick.
After conceding seven goals in their previous two matches, Venezia can take the fact that they only allowed Lazio one shot on target as a positive, and something to build on this weekend.
Venezia's goal difference is significantly worse than Sampdoria's, but not too far behind Cagliari in 17th place, with goal difference needing to be considered in the final stages of the campaign, given that the points tally is tight.
Zanetti's side have only recorded two wins on home soil in Serie A this season, but playing another team threatened by relegation surely makes Sunday a must-win outing.
© Reuters
Three points for Sampdoria this weekend would take them seven points clear of the relegation zone, which would give them a comfortable gap to be confident about surviving the drop this year.
To collect maximum points from the Stadio Pierluigi Penzo, Sampdoria will have to bounce back from a 3-1 defeat against Italian giants Juventus last time out.
Marco Giampaolo's side had their chances in that match, as Abdelhamid Sabiri's late strike came after Antonio Candreva missed a penalty in the second half, but creating that many goal opportunities against the Old Lady should be viewed as a positive.
Sampdoria have struggled in the final third more on their travels than they have done so on their own patch, but if they perform in a similar manner to last Saturday, then they are likely to give themselves a good chance of victory, as Venezia will not be as clinical as Juve were.
During the last meeting between these teams in December, Manolo Gabbiadini's early goal was cancelled out by Thomas Henry's 87th-minute strike for Venezia, with the game ending in a 1-1 draw.
- L
- W
- D
- L
- L
- L
- W
- L
- W
- L
- L
- L
Team News
© Reuters
Alberto Bertolini was in the dugout for Venezia last time out after Zanetti was sent off during his side's 4-1 defeat against Sassuolo a week earlier, but the manager has no new injury or suspension concerns.
Midfielder Ethan Ampadu came back into the starting 11 on Monday, and the 21-year-old is expected to continue with Luca Fiordilino and Domen Crnigoj in the middle of the park.
Dennis Torset Johnsen, Luca Lezzerini, Michael Cuisance and Sergio Romero will all remain absent from Venezia's matchday squad due to injury.
Sampdoria attacking duo Gabbiadini and Mikkel Damsgaard are both nearing their returns from injury, but this encounter is likely to have come too soon for the pair.
Francesco Caputo and captain Fabio Quagliarella are expected to continue to lead the line for Sampdoria, looking to add to their 10 goals between them this season.
Tommaso Augello and Morten Thorsby came into the starting side last time out, but the latter could be replaced by Albin Ekdal in midfield.
Venezia possible starting lineup:
Maenpaa; Haps, Modolo, Caldara, Mateju; Fiordilino, Ampadu, Crnigoj; Busio, Okereke; Nsame
Sampdoria possible starting lineup:
Falcone; Augello, Colley, Yoshida, Bereszynski; Ekdal, Rincon, Candreva; Sensi; Caputo, Quagliarella
We say: Venezia 1-2 Sampdoria
This encounter is likely to be a close affair with a lot at stake in the race to beat relegation, but having shown some more attacking prowess than their hosts this season, Sampdoria should come out on top.
Both teams are in poor form, which could suggest that there will be goals on Sunday for both sides, with neither Venezia or Sampdoria used to keeping clean sheets.
Top tip
Sammy Wynne
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 Venezia win with a probability of 46.11%. A win for Sampdoria had a probability of 27.83% and a draw had a probability of 26.1%.
The most likely scoreline for a Venezia win was 1-0 with a probability of 11.44%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (9.12%) and 2-0 (8.42%). The likeliest Sampdoria win was 0-1 (8.41%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.38%). The actual scoreline of 0-2 was predicted with a 4.6% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole correctly predicted that Sampdoria would win this match.
