Roma is in a difficult situation because they have a key Europa League match on Thursday vs. Fiorentina, but also are in danger of losing the second position in Serie A … which qualifies directly for Champions League. Lazio is playing great football and is now only 4 points behind. So Rudi Garcia can not afford to make rotations in the lineups and he called for focus from his players to finally end the horrible run of draws which saw them drop 14 pts behind Juventus. Roma did not win at home since November last year and has 11 draws in the last 14 matches in all competitions. Totti is doubtful and will probably be kept on the bench.
Roma lineup: De Sanctis – Torosidis, Manolas, Astori, Cole – Pjanic, De Rossi, Keita – Ljajic, Iturbe, Gervinho
Sampdoria is having a very good season and is on a two game winning streak over Atalanta and Cagliari, but lately their football wasn`t so impressive … visitors lost a bit of that intensity they had early on and only a very easy draw so far in 2015 made them get respectable results. Since the second part of the season started, Sampdoria met only 4 teams from the top 10: 0-3 vs. Lazio, 0-2 vs. Inter, 1-5 vs. Torino and 1-1 vs. Genoa
Sampdoria lineup: Viviano – Regini, Romagnoli, Silvestre, De Silvestri – Palombo, Obiang, Soriano – Eder, Muriel, Eto’o
A draw is not out of the question but I feel that Roma will turn a corner and finally get a win, they improved a bit recently and played well last Thursday in Firenze (1-1). My bet however is on the under / over market … Sampdoria will come here to defend and they can do it very well on a good day, while Roma is a team that keeps possession, stays safe in defense and does not create too many chances. Only two games with over 2,5 goals for Roma from the last 13! A 1-0 win is all that Roma wants today and I think that is what they will get.
Roma should get the lead at some point and than only try to protect it, while Sampdoria is not playing good enough to cause danger. My tip will be under 2,5 goals to be scored … Correct score prediction: AS Roma – Sampdoria 1-0.
Pick: under 2,5 goals
Odds: 1.83
