Fabio Quagliarella and Duvan Zapata lead the Sampdoria attack in a tense Derby della Lanterna with struggling city rivals Genoa.
It kicks off at 19.45 UK time (18.45 GMT), follow the build-up and action as it happens on the LIVEBLOG.
This is historically one of the most hard-fought local derbies in Serie A, as often they have little to play for other than mid-table safety and local pride.
Fabio Quagliarella and Duvan Zapata lead the Sampdoria attack in a tense Derby della Lanterna with struggling city rivals Genoa.
It kicks off at 19.45 UK time (18.45 GMT), follow the build-up and action as it happens on the LIVEBLOG.
This is historically one of the most hard-fought local derbies in Serie A, as often they have little to play for other than mid-table safety and local pride.
However, this time around there is much more at stake for both sides at different ends of the spectrum.
Sampdoria’s recent slide has seen them fall behind, but they remain in the thick of the race for a Europa League spot under Coach Marco Giampaolo and are fresh from a midweek victory away to Atalanta.
Genoa, on the other hand, are by no means clear from the threat of relegation and they too had a boost with their last-gasp 2-1 win over Cagliari on Wednesday evening.
Iuri Medeiros came off the bench to score that late screamer and he could well play a part later in tonight’s game too, but Goran Pandev and Gianluca Lapadula start upfront.
Andrej Galabinov, Miguel Veloso and Armando Izzo are all still on the treatment table.
The interesting twist is a start for former Sampdoria wing-back Pedro Pereira.
Edgar Barreto and Dawid Kownacki are back on the bench, while veteran hitman Quagliarella is available again to partner Duvan Zapata and Gianluca Caprari, who is preferred to Gaston Ramirez in the trequartista role.
Genoa have won only one of the last eight derbies, 3-0 as the ‘away’ side in May 2016, along with a 1-1 draw and six defeats, failing to find the net in four of them.
Sampdoria: Viviano; Bereszynski, Silvestre, Ferrari, Murru; Praet, Torreira, Linetty; Caprari; Quagliarella, Duvan Zapata
Genoa: Perin; Biraschi, Spolli, Zukanovic; Pedro Pereira, Hiljemark, Rigoni, Bertolacci, Laxalt; Pandev, Lapadula
Ref: Massa