A sluggish Sampdoria side will be dreaming of an upset against defending champions Milan this evening.
The match between the Blucerchiati and the Rossoneri kicks off at 19.45 UK time at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris.
Sampdoria’s season has not started well at all, failing to pick up a single win in their first five games. The only highlights so far for Marco Giampaolo’s side were an uninspiring goalless draw against Juventus and an edgy 1-1 draw with Lazio.
Things have been much more positive for Milan, who remain unbeaten after drawing with Atalanta and Sassuolo and beating Udinese, Bologna and rivals Inter. Stefano Pioli and his squad understand the importance of early momentum as they look to defend their Scudetto, something they haven’t managed to do since the days of Fabio Capello.
Giampaolo has to manage four absences heading into this evening’s clash as Omar Colley, Manuel De Luca, Simone Trimboli and Harry Winks are all unavailable due to injury.
It’s much the same over at the Rossoneri camp; Alessandro Florenzi, Rade Krunic, Ante Rebic, Divock Origi and Zlatan Ibrahimovic are all out, restricting Pioli’s options a little.
Probable line-ups for Sampdoria vs Milan
Sampdoria (4-3-2-1): Audero; Bereszynski, Ferrari, Murillo, Augello; Rincon, Vieira, Verre; Sabiri, Djuricic; Caputo.
Milan (4-2-3-1): Maignan; Calabria, Kalulu, Kjaer, Hernandez; Pobega, Tonali; Messias, De Ketelaere, Leao; Giroud.
Looks like we have bought ourselves a broken toy in Origi, while Giroud will also break soon enough at this rate. Leao can’t take a break either.