Juventus vs Sampdoria

Juventus and Sampdoria go head-to-head at the Allianz Stadium in what appears to be a routine Serie A task for the home side.

Encouraged by a 3-2 comeback victory over Spezia last time out, Juventus will be aiming to establish some consistency following a disastrous four-match winless Serie A start (D2, L2). Sitting a staggering 11 points adrift of top-placed AC Milan, the record-time Italian champions can ill-afford a slip-up against a side they’ve defeated in four consecutive top-flight H2Hs by an aggregate score of 9-1. Since a 1-1 draw in December 2014, the ‘Bianconeri’ have won their subsequent six Serie A meetings with Sampdoria in Turin, prevailing by at least a two-goal margin on five of those occasions. But after returning just one point from their last two league matches at the Allianz Stadium, Juventus stare at the prospect of going winless in three straight home Serie A outings for the first time since 2015/16.

On the other hand, Sampdoria succumbed to a dreadful 4-0 home defeat to Napoli last time out, adding to a woeful start to this Serie A campaign (W1, D2, L2). A lack of firepower up front has seen the Genoa-based outfit fail to get on the scoresheet three times across their opening five Serie A fixtures. However, it’s worth noting that they netted 2+ goals in the remaining two in that period. Encouragingly, though, Roberto D’Aversa’s men have kept a clean sheet in their last three Serie A matches away from home and could make it four in a row for the first time since November 2004. That could be easier said than done, as the visitors have conceded 2+ goals across their last six top-flight visits to Turin, letting in a total of 19 (3.16 on average).