Soccer Italy Serie A Prediction

Napoli vs Sampdoria - Match Preview

⚽ 4 June 2023 - 16:30 GMT +0

It’s party time in Naples as the confirmed Serie A (SA) champions, Napoli, will be presented with their first top-flight trophy since 1989/90 upon the conclusion of this game. The hosts have faltered a little since claiming the title in early May (W2, D1, L1), yet departing manager Luciano Spalletti will hope for one last victorious hurrah in front of a packed Stadio Diego Armando Maradona before taking a well-deserved sabbatical.

Attention will then swiftly turn to the managerial search, but ending the season by racking up a maiden run of three straight home wins in 2023 is first on the agenda. The likelihood of doing just that seems high given that Napoli has never lost a home league H2H against rock-bottom and relegated Sampdoria since the turn of the century (W12, D2), a side who sit a whopping 68 points behind the new champions!

The extremes of both the joy football can bring and also despair in equal measure will be on display in this fixture, the latter of which will surely overcome Sampdoria as they prepare for a first Serie B campaign in over a decade. A measly haul of 19 points represents their poorest-ever top-flight showing, a terrible statistic which has been influenced by their worst-ever tally of 24 SA defeats in a single campaign.

The future doesn’t seem quite as bleak as this particular evening will be, with the club sealing a takeover from Leeds United owner Andrea Radrizzani. The long-suffering fanbase will hope his ownership can help pave the way to a promotion much like the now-relegated Yorkshire club achieved from the English Championship back in 2019/20, although in the short term, playing party pooper in Naples by ending an 11-game winless away run (D2, L9) seems unlikely at best.

📋 Players to watch: Napoli’s Victor Osimhen could be picking up more than just the SA Capocannoniere award at the conclusion of the season, with the in-demand forward also nominated for the league’s MVP award after achieving a career-best 25-goal haul. Sampdoria’s top marksman, Manolo Gabbiadini, is 18 goals shy of that total with just seven strikes, yet he comes into this looking to make it back-to-back scoring games for the first time since the beginning of 2022.

⚡ Hot streak: Sampdoria’s current eight-game losing streak of SA H2Hs against Napoli is their longest-ever negative streak against any specific opponent.