The meeting between Sampdoria and Napoli is scheduled for Monday evening at the Luigi Ferraris. The visitors from Naples have some more color on their cheeks after nice victories over Juventus and Lazio, but encounter a very tough opponent in the Genoa hosts.
Sampdoria:
The supporters of Sampdoria are facing an exciting second half of the season, because with a lead of only five points on the Italian relegation zone, the current number sixteen is by no means certain of retention.
Claudio Ranieri, who was appointed in October last year, has sharpened some much-needed solidity in the team, but as a result the team from Genoa itself often has difficulty scoring. A perfect example of this was the scoreless draw against Sassuolo in their own Luigi Ferraris, in which the home team was unable to break the spell despite an early red card for the visitors. The attacking couple Fabio Quagliarella and Manolo Gabbiadini score very difficult, and also playmaker Gaston Ramirez has not been in shape in recent weeks. In addition, Sampdoria misses several players in the back and midfield in particular on Monday evening, so defender Lorenzo Tonelli will face his old club barely a week after his transfer.
Napoli:
Champions League qualification will most likely no longer be in the barrel for Napoli this season, but the current number eleven of the Serie A has managed to finally shake off the troubled first half of the season. Thanks to an early goal from Lorenzo Insigne, the southern Italians qualified for the semi-finals of the Copa del Rey at the expense of seasonal revelation Lazio, and a few days later they single-handedly made the Italian title fight again by beating Juventus with 2-1 via goals from Piotr Zielinski and again Insignia. “Una grande partita,” as match winner Insigne exulted afterwards. “We dedicate this victory to all of Naples.”
It is therefore heading in the right direction again with the team of coach Gennaro Gattuso, who in the past, of course, did not throw in the towel as a player. However, Napoli’s medical staff is still working overtime, and key players such as Dries Mertens, Allan, Faouzi Ghoulam and Kalidou Koulibaly will probably also have to fail in the away match against Sampdoria.
