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Roma kick off the new year with a Serie A home game against mid-table visitors Sampdoria as they push for a Champions League return.
With eight victories and just three defeats from 14 games so far, the Giallorossi are third in the standings and just seven points off the top.
It's been a fairly good start to the season for Paulo Fonseca's side, who'll feel confident of picking up a result after watching Samp's struggles.
Sampdoria are 11th with just five wins so far, including two from the last nine. Their last result was a 3-2 loss to Sassuolo at home.
Inconsistency has kept the side from being further up the table. Big wins against Lazio and Atalanta have been cancelled out by defeats to lowly Benevento, Cagliari, and Bologna.
Claudio Ranieri, who steered the side away from relegation last year after taking over mid-season, aims to reverse Sampdoria's fortunes once again.
AS Roma vs Sampdoria Head-To-Head
Roma have traditionally dominated this fixture with 17 wins from 36 clashes to Sampdoria's eight, the last of which came way back in January 2018.
The corresponding fixture last season finished with the capital club picking up a late 2-1 victory courtesy of Edin Dzeko's second-half double.
AS Roma Form Guide (all competitions): L-W-W-L-W
Sampdoria Form Guide (all competitions): L-L-W-W-L
AS Roma vs Sampdoria Team News
AS Roma
Leonardo Spinazzola and Antonio Mirante succumbed to muscle injuries towards the end of last month and will sit this match out. Nicolo Zaniolo is the only long-term absentee.
Bryan Cristante is at a risk of suspension, having picked up four yellow cards in the top-flight so far. One more yellow would earn him an automatic suspension for the following game.
Injured: Leonardo Spinazzola, Antonio Mirante, and Nicolo Zaniolo
Suspended: None
Unavailable: None
Sampdoria
Last month alone, Sampdoria lost Manolo Gabbiadini, Alex Ferrari, and Bartosz Bereszynski to injuries. They are still recovering and will miss this match.
Keita Balde is suspended after being sent off in the last game. Albin Ekdal and Gaston Ramirez are on four yellow cards and risk suspension if booked again on Sunday.
Injured: Manolo Gabbiadini, Alex Ferrari, and Bartosz Bereszynski
Suspended: Keita Balde
Unavailable: None
AS Roma vs Sampdoria Predicted XI
AS Roma (3-4-2-1): Pau Lopez; Gianluca Mancini, Bryan Cristante, Marash Kambulla; Rick Karsdorp, Gonzalo Villar, Jordan Veretout, Bruno Peres; Pedro Rodriguez, Henrikh Mkhitaryan; Edin Dzeko.
Sampdoria (4-4-2): Emil Audero; Maya Yoshida, Lorenzo Tonelli, Omar Colley, Tommaso Augello; Antonio Candreva, Albin Ekdal, Morten Thorsby, Mikkel Damsgaard; Gaston Ramirez, Fabio Quagliarella.
AS Roma vs Sampdoria Prediction
Roma's porous defence could be exploited by the visitors but they have enough attacking weapons in their arsenal to see off Sampdoria. We expect a high-scoring affair that ends in favor of the Giallorossi.
Prediction: AS Roma 3-2 Sampdoria
