Rock-bottom Sampdoria will still be in search of their first victory of the season when they welcome Monza to Luigi Ferraris for their Serie A Matchday Eight tie on Sunday.
It has been a difficult start to Sampdoria who have now gone winless in their opening seven matches in Serie A and currently sit at the bottom of the table on two points, three off their safety.
Samp suffered a 2-1 away defeat to Spezia before the international break, extending their losing streak to three matches in the league.
Heading into this fixture manager Marco Giampaolo will be under immense pressure for his side to pick up their first victory. There has already been a dreaded vote of confidence in Giampaolo’s abilities and he surely could not survive a defeat here.
Following six winless matches in the start of this campaign, Monza decided to part ways with their manager Giovanni Stroppa, who helped them return to the top flight this season.
However, the decision paid off as Raffaele Palladino his replacement lead Monza to their first victory last time out. The victory was a surprising one as they beat Juventus at home and now he will also be under pressure to continue delivering the good results on Sunday.
Monza may be buoyant now but they could be brought down to Earth this weekend by a Samp team that desperately need a victory. Therefore, they will need to bring more than just their A-game here.
Sampdoria vs Monza head to head
Both sides have met in four encounters since 1999 with Sampdoria winning three times and there have been one draw.
- Sampdoria 4-1 Monza 03/06/01
- Monza 0-4 Sampdoria 14/01/01
- Sampdoria 2-1 Monza 21/05/00
- Monza 1-1 Sampdoria 19/12/99
Home
- Spezia 2-1 Sampdoria
- Sampdoria 1-2 Milan
- Verona 2-1 Sampdoria
- Sampdoria 1-1 Lazio
- Salernitana 4-0 Sampdoria
Away
- Monza 1-0 Juventus
- Lecce 1-1 Monza
- Monza 0-2 Atalanta
- Roma 3-0 Monza
- Monza 1-2 Udinese
Sampdoria team news
Sampdoria will be without Manuel De Luca due to injury.
Monza team news
Monza will be without Andrea Petagna due to injury.
- Prediction and odds
- Draw both sides to score
- Goals under 2.5