Separated by three places in the Serie A standings, either side of the drop zone's dotted line, struggling Sampdoria and an improving Lecce side meet on Saturday, in their final fixture of 2022.
The teams meet at Stadio Luigi Ferraris in the final round of Calcio action before the World Cup, with the hosts sitting 19th after another defeat in midweek; trailing their southern visitors by six points.
Match preview
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Following a brief new-manager bounce after the appointment of Dejan Stankovic to the Sampdoria hotseat, the past fortnight has not been kind to the Ligurian outfit, who have lost three games on the bounce without scoring a single goal.
Perhaps understandably beaten 3-0 by Stankovic's former club Inter at the end of last month, Samp have gone on to lose 2-0 at home to Fiorentina and, in midweek, by the same scoreline at Torino.
Stankovic - who lost his cool and was sent off in Turin - has quite a task on his hands to turn things around at Marassi, as his side sit just one place off the bottom of the table, having amassed a meagre six points from their first 14 fixtures.
Having scored just six times in the process - and their current drought is approaching 300 minutes - the Blucerchiati have registered the fewest goals in Serie A by some distance.
Indeed, Saturday's opponents Lecce have netted twice that tally to date and, at the moment seem the better bet to survive when an extended season finally concludes in June. Whether Stankovic - already muttering darkly about leaving if results fail to improve - will still be there by then is anyone's guess.
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By contrast with the upheaval in Genoa, as Sampdoria fail to spark a revival by engaging a series of different coaches, Lecce have been the model of consistency since the summer of 2021.
Marco Baroni led the Puglian side to promotion as Serie B champions last spring and is now starting to forge a team that can consistently compete at the top level.
While their attempts to avoid an immediate return to the second tier may well drag on to the bitter end, Lecce occupy 16th place after posting their second league win of the season on Wednesday.
The Giallorossi stunned top-four contenders Atalanta at Stadio Via del Mare, as they strode into a two-goal lead by the half-hour mark, thanks to strikes from centre-back Federico Baschirotto and well-travelled winger Federico Di Francesco.
Though La Dea pulled a goal back before the break, Lecce held on to take maximum points and secure a first home victory of their comeback campaign.
Unlike a relatively soft Samp side, who have already been beaten 10 times, Baroni's boys have lost only six of their 14 league matches so far. Surely, then, they will target precious back-to-back wins on Saturday evening.
Team News
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Already set to be without Abdelhamid Sabiri, Andrea Conti and Ignacio Pussetto this weekend, Sampdoria coach Dejan Stankovic must also replace suspended centre-back Omar Colley, who serves a one-match ban for accumulated bookings. That may see the home side revert to a back four, or alternatively, Alex Ferrari could be drafted into the lineup.
Desperate for goals, in midweek, Stankovic brought in untested teenager Daniele Montevago to support misfiring forward Francesco Caputo up front, but the more experienced Manolo Gabbiadini or Fabio Quagliarella should feature on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Tottenham Hotspur loanee Harry Winks underwent arthroscopic ankle surgery this week, in order to resolve an ongoing problem which has prevented him from making his Serie A debut.
Naturally, Marco Baroni will be tempted to name an unchanged Lecce XI to start at Marassi, following such an excellent result on Wednesday.
Given continued doubts about the fitness of loan signing Samuel Umtiti, the visitors may well do so; only Kastriot Dermaku is set to miss out entirely.
The forward trio of Federico Di Francesco, Lorenzo Colombo and top scorer Gabriel Strefezza are likely to be retained, then, with Lameck Banda offering a different option from the bench.
Sampdoria possible starting lineup:
Audero; Ferrari, Murillo, Amione; Bereszynski, Rincon, Yepes, Bereszynski; Gabbiadini, Djuricic; Caputo
Lecce possible starting lineup:
Falcone; Gendrey, Baschirotto, Pongracic, Gallo; Blin, Hjulmand, Gonzalez; Strefezza, Colombo, Di Francesco
We say: Sampdoria 1-1 Lecce
With confidence growing in the camp - after coming close to holding Juventus, then taking four points from their next two games - Lecce arrive at Marassi more in expectation than just hope, and that may be rewarded. Neither side has built much rhythm in the final third this term, so the points should be shared in a low-scoring draw.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Jonathan O'Shea
