Roma vs Sampdoria

Stadio Olimpico is the venue as Roma and Sampdoria go head-to-head in a lopsided Serie A fixture.

Roma’s pursuit of a first top-four finish in Serie A since 2017/18 has taken a series of blows of late, with Jose Mourinho’s side suffering three defeats in their last four league outings (W1). Back-to-back single-goal margin losses on the eve of March’s international break held ‘I Giallorossi’ one point adrift of fourth-placed AC Milan. However, Roma should be confident of avoiding three consecutive Serie A defeats for the first time since July 2020, as they’ve won their last two top-flight meetings with Sampdoria via an identical 1-0 scoreline. Mourinho wouldn’t mind another tight victory, especially as it’d see his side beat this opposition in three straight Serie A encounters for the first time since a run of five between 2006 and 2009. Before going down 4-3 to Sassuolo in their most recent home league outing, Roma had won each of their first five Serie A matches at the Olimpico in 2023.

On the other hand, Sampdoria headed into the international break on the back of a crucial 3-1 home win over fellow relegation rivals Hellas Verona, ending a woeful run of ten Serie A matches without winning (D3, L7). However, a substantial nine-point deficit on 17th-placed Spezia means ‘La Samp’ cannot settle for anything less than victory at the Olimpico, where they’ve picked up just one point on their last four league visits (D1, L3). Ending that streak would see Sampdoria win back-to-back Serie A games for the first time since November 2021, though it’s far-fetched. The visitors’ defensive woes have seen them keep just one clean sheet in their last five league matches. Dejan Stankovic’s men netted over 1.5 goals only once during that run.