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Sampdoria set to start Cassano against Empoli
The flipside is that Walter Zenga's charges have done nothing but lost on the road (three times) whilst their guests have at least managed one win, 2-1 at the Friuli against Udinese.
Marco Giampaolo has his work cut out despite last weekend's very convincing 2-1 win against Genoa. Though Ricardo Zielinski emerged to replace the suspended Riccardo Saponara and led the Tuscan side to victory, Empoli are still hovering above the relegation zone.
With memories of Maurizio Sarri's passing football still fresh at the Stadio Castellani, many wonder whether Giampaolo's more pragmatic approach is either a fit with his squad, or indeed enough to give Empoli an edge.
PREDICTED LINEUPS
According to Genoese paper, Il Secolo XIX, Walter Zenga plans to rest Matias Silvestre, Edgar Barreto and Luis Muriel, three key cogs in Sampdoria's lineup. It will be Nicklas Moisander's time to shine in central defence, whilst promising youngster David Ivan gets the nod in central midfield.
The big news item, however, is a certain Antonio Cassano being given the start in attack. Never boring, the former Bari, Inter, Milan, Real Madrid and Roma star was a joy to behold during his first stint at the Marassi, that is before he got into a violent altercation with the front office and left.
Sampdoria (4-3-1-2): Viviano; Cassani, Moisander, Zukanovic, Pereira; Soriano, Fernando, Ivan; Carbonero; Cassano, Eder. Coach: Zenga.
Empoli (4-3-1-2): Skorupski; Laurini, Tonelli, Costa, Mario Rui; Paredes, Dioussé, Zielinski; Saponara; Maccarone, Pucciarelli. Coach: Giampaolo.
BLAST FROM THE PAST
Dial the clock back to 1997/1998, and Vincenzo Montella was adding twenty Serie A goals to the 22 he'd netted in his first season at the top with Samp. Unfortunately for Empoli, two of those came at the expense of them in a 3-0 defeat at the Marassi.
Updates to follow
