Juventus Vs Sampdoria
20 September 2020 – 19:45 (GMT)
Italian Serie A
Pick: Both Teams to Score
Odds: Evens
Bookmaker: Betway
(All betting odds correct at time of writing: 18 September 2020)
Preview: After topping the charts in Italy for the ninth season in a row, Juventus begin their quest for a tenth-straight Scudetto this Sunday at the Juventus Stadium against Claudio Ranieri’s gradually improving Sampdoria side. All eyes, however, will be on the home dugout.
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Table of Contents
Juventus Preview – Intrigue abound ahead of Pirlo’s touchline debut?
Once upon a time a Scudetto was worth its weight in gold for a manager. Maurizio Sarri discovered the hard way that guiding The Old Lady to the biggest prize in Italian football only garners so much currency these days, of which his had well and truly run dry once Juventus crashed out of Europe to Lyon. In his place comes former midfielder Andrea Pirlo. A bold and sentimental appointment that appears fraught with risk.
Incomings are few and far between. Dejan Kulusevski has finally joined up with the Serie A champions after spending last season on loan with Parma and provides an option on the wing. Weston McKennie is an intriguing pick-up from Schalke, with the versatile midfielder initially arriving on a loan, while swapping Miralem Prajnic for Arthur with Barcelona is among the more bizarre and expensive trades in recent memory.
Juventus were pushed most of the way last season but were arguably the least convincing they’ve ever been during a decade of Serie A dominance. They lost seven times in all – more often than in any of the previous eight title winning seasons – and fell apart towards the end, winning only twice whilst leaking a lot of goals in the final eight rounds (W2 D2 L4, GF13 GA17) to finish a point clear of Inter Milan.
Sampdoria Preview – La Samp competent under Ranieri?
Claudio Ranieri keeping Sampdoria in Serie A last season was a fantastic achievement that went a little under the radar. At the point of his arrival in the middle of October, the club were bottom of the league having lost six of their opening seven league games with the latest of those a 2-0 defeat away to newly promoted Hellas Verona. Come the end of the season La Samp were seven points clear of danger in 15th.
The club has since rewarded the former Leicester City and Roma boss with another season at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris outfit. That is nothing to be sniffed at considering the voraciousness with which most top Italian clubs race through managers. His forte last season, however, was extracting points from more presentable fixtures. Conversely, Sampdoria’s record against the better teams was largely uninspiring: D3 L8 (D1 L5 away) versus top-six under Ranieri.
Therefore, despite the significant strides made, nobody truly expects them to take anything away from Sunday’s visit to Juventus Stadium. Sampdoria were often consistent in similar outings, though, allowing two goals in defeats away to Atalanta (2-0), Inter Milan (2-1), Juventus (2-0) and Roma (2-0). Suggesting that if they are to go down to an opening day loss, it may not be by much.
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Juventus Vs Sampdoria Betting Advice
It is difficult to know what to expect from Juventus under Andrea Pirlo. His initial quotes would imply a completely different approach to matches than what Juve are used to, citing the current methods of some of Europe’s top clubs with regards to pressing from the front and winning the ball back quickly. However, this squad seems ill-equipped to play such a high-energy brand of football.
Juventus Vs Sampdoria – Key Facts
- No team won more home games in Serie A last term than Juventus (W16 D2 L1), whose sole home defeat in 2019-20 came on the final day against AS Roma (1-3).
- Sampdoria conceded exactly two goals on five of their six visits to last season’s top-seven, doing so against Atalanta (2-0), Inter (2-1), Juventus (2-0), Napoli (2-0) and Roma (2-1).
- Juventus did the league double over Sampdoria last season, winning 2-0 at Juventus Stadium to extend their winning run in this fixture to five. The last occasion the visitors triumphed here was January 2013.
Juventus haven’t scored more than twice against Sampdoria in the pair’s previous seven Serie A meetings (W5 L2), winning 2-1 on the road and 2-0 at home last season. Meanwhile, Sampdoria established a useful knack of scoring under Ranieri, doing so in 24 of his 31 league games in charge so far. This makes me believe the visitors can keep the scoreline close against what was a porous Juve backline in the closing stages of 2019-20. 2-1 Juventus.
Best Betting Odds – Juventus Vs Sampdoria
Juventus – 2/7 (Bet365)
Draw – 5/1 (PaddyPower)
Sampdoria – 11/1 (BetFred)
