25 October 2016
Samp at the Stadium
With four points to show from their four visits to Juventus Stadium, Sampdoria hold one of the better Serie A records for visiting teams at the Bianconeri’s ground.
However, their very first outing there on 6 January 2013 – a 2-1 win courtesy of Mauro Icardi’s second-half brace – seems a very long time ago with the hosts since having won 62 and drawn seven of their subsequent 70 league games in front of their own fans.
One of those draws came against Samp in December 2015 when Manolo Gabbiadini cancelled out Patrice Evra’s opener.
The remaining two matches, however, have seen the Bianconeri come out on top and score plenty of goals in the process as the 4-2 and 5-0 wins in January 2014 and May 2016 testify.
The latter occasion witnessed a true carnival atmosphere at the Stadium, being the final fixture of a season that saw the Old Lady celebrate a history-making fifth consecutive Scudetto success.
The season so far
Sampdoria sit 15th on 11 points, but will be buoyed by their weekend victory over inter-city rivals Genoa in the ‘Derby della Lanterna.’
That 2-1 win, sealed by Luis Muriel’s opener and Armando Izzo’s own goal, brought the Blucerchiati three very important points after taking just two from their previous six.
Samp had started the season in fine fashion with two successive triumphs against Empoli and Atalanta before succumbing to four straight defeats and two draws before taking the spoils in Saturday’s derby.
While the Bianconeri boast the best defensive record of 2016/17, conceding just six goals, the Blucerchiati’s greatest problem so far this term has been at the back, letting in 12 and their opening-day victory away to Empoli the only game in which they’ve kept a clean sheet.
At the other end meanwhile, Marco Giampaolo’s men have scored in seven of their nine matches with 70 per cent of their goals coming before half-time. By contrast, Juve have netted marginally more in the second period of games: nine out of 17 Serie A strikes after the interval.
Key men to monitor
On the mark in the derby against Genoa, Luis Muriel leads Sampdoria’s scoring charts with three goals this term. The Colombian can count himself unfortunate not to have netted more, having struck the post a league-high three times. His 13 shots on target in are the third highest in Serie A so far in 2016/17.
Fabio Quagliarella is well known to the Bianconeri’s ranks, having worn the black and white for four seasons between 2010 and 2014. The three-time Scudetto winner with Juventus has scored twice this campaign and is just another two off hitting the 100 mark in his career.
In Bruno Fernandes, meanwhile, Samp have the most effective ‘super sub’ of the current Serie A campaign. The Portuguese midfielder has helped himself to the most goals (two) and shots (ten) upon coming off the bench than any other player in Italy’s top tier.
