The penultimate round of the 2022/23 Serie A season begins with a game between already-relegated Sampdoria and Sassuolo at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris on Friday.
The hosts officially became the first team to be relegated in Serie A this season three weeks ago when they were beaten 2-0 by Udinese. Since then, they have had no respite and were most recently beaten 5-1 by AC Milan in their last game.
The loss at the San Siro was their 24th Serie loss of the season, making them the side with the league’sleague’s worst defence and feast goals scored in the league this season (22 goals).
La Samp are destined to finish bottom of the Serie A table for the first time in their history unless they miraculously catch 19th-placed Cremonese, who sit six points above them with a better goal difference.
Read more: Osasuna vs Athletic Bilbao: Preview and Expert Football Prediction
The chance of that happening is very slim, given that the hosts are winless in their last nine league games (D3, L6). Sassuolo, meanwhile, will travel to Stadio Luigi Ferraris, desperate to end their own torrid run of four games without a victory (D1, L3).
The visitors come into this sitting in 13th place, with a slim chance of cracking into the top half with just two games to play. This game seems inconsequential in determining their final placement at the end of the season.
Yet Alessio Dionisi’s side can at least aim to avoid being the only side to lose two times against Sampdoria this season, having lost the reverse fixture 2-1. But four straight defeats away from home shows that losing is a high possibility.
Meanwhile, Sassuolo have seen ten of their 12 Serie A wins this season come by a one-goal margin. So we can expect a low-scoring adventure on Friday featuring under 2.5 goal.
