Fiorentina vs Sampdoria: Preview and Prediction

Fiorentina vs Sampdoria
2016/17 Italian Serie A.
Date: Sunday, 06 November 2016
Kick-Off: 17:00 UK,
Venue: Stadio Artemio Franchi (Florence).

Can Fiorentina translate their European form into domestic success? Certainly, many Viola supporters must be asking themselves that question.

It probably confounds many that the Viola have been so good in the Europa League, but have struggled in Serie A. After all, they are no strangers to competing on two fronts, and although their quartet is pretty easy, not all of their opponents in Serie A have been the toughest, either. However, they appear to be slowly turning things around. They are pretty much on the cusp of sealing qualification from their Europa League group and are on a four-match unbeaten streak.

Paulo Sousa’s men are indeed working their way up the table, but they will need to do much more. At the start of this round they are five points off a Europa League automatic spot for next season. Their attack is also a major source of concern. Up until their 5-3 win over Cagliari, they had netted just six times.

They still lag well behind Napoli, Juventus, Roma, and Lazio, but Nicola Kalinic finally appears to be getting up to speed. The Croatian has been accused of some major profligacy, but he has netted seven times in his past five games across all competitions and will surely be hungry to add more this Sunday.

Meanwhile, Sampdoria come into this game having beaten Inter, which effectively spelled the end of Frank de Boer’s tenure at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza. However, they have not won an away game since opening day and have struggled to prevent their opponents from scoring. Indeed, they could find things really tough against Fiorentina, who have been pretty solid at the Stadio Artemio Franchi.

Fiorentina vs Sampdoria: Head-to-head statistics

• Fiorentina are unbeaten in their past 10 home games against Sampdoria.
• The Viola have lost just one out of their last 20 home games against teams ranked lower than them in the table (13 wins, six draws).
• Sampdoria’s record in their past 20 away games against teams ranked higher than them in the table is 13 losses, six draws, and just one win.
• Sampdoria have failed to win 10 out of their last 11 road games

Fiorentina vs Sampdoria: Prediction

Sampdoria are really floundering, and this is something Fiorentina can take advantage of. The Viola need to start stringing some wins together if they want to rebound after a difficult start, and they should have no trouble seeing off their struggling visitors this Sunday. Sampdoria did manage to beat Inter, but that was at home. On the road, as noted before, they have found things quite difficult since that huge win at the start of this season.