In this 18th week match, on Monday Jan 16th, Sampdoria will travel to Empoli to battle Empoli in a clash of the Serie A. Weather on match day is looking like a cloudy and cool day, with daytime temperatures of only 6 degrees, which will make playing unpleasant. Empoli is fresh off their 2-2 draw against Lazio. Felipe Anderson struck first for Lazio in the 2nd minute, then Mattia Zaccagni added another in the 54th minute . Empoli is looking for direction having 3 win and 4 losses in their last 10 matches, while in their last match, 19th placed Sampdoria, recorded a 0-1 loss against Fiorentina. Antonín Barák struck first for Fiorentina in the 25th minute on a feed from Luca Ranieri, and that single goal was all that was necessary as neither team could manage any more scoring At the end of 90 a dissapointed Sampdoria couldn’t manage to score, and Fiorentina took the shutout win. They’re hoping to improve on their recent performance, having earned only 7 points in their last 10 matches.
These two teams have not yet played each other this season. Last season Sampdoria won the head to head battle with 2 wins.
Manolo Gabbiadini has been on a hot streak lately. In the last five games, hes scored four goals for Sampdoria. Empoli’s top weapon lately has been Tommaso Baldanzi, who has two goals in the last five matches.