Napoli vs. Sampdoria 1/9/22 Serie A Soccer Pick, Predictions, and Odds

Napoli is hosting Sampdoria at Stadio Diego Armando Maradona in round 21 of the Italian Serie A. Napoli is struggling with scoring goals as of late, but it has to open up for them eventually. Sampdoria might be scoring goals, but they are conceding a lot more, and their defense is not allowing them to do better this season.

Napoli has been sloppy lately, and unfortunately for them, they lost Insigne who will be leaving for Toronto at the end of this season. Napoli has won only 2 of their last 7 games, while not winning any of their last 2 games. The good news for Napoli is they are only 6 points away from the top spot, but unless they get their offense going, they will not get there. Napoli’s defense is what is keeping them so close to the top, and they have conceded only 15 goals so far this season, which is the least in the league. With 6 goals, Mertens is now the leading goalscorer for Napoli, while Osimhen, Ruiz, and Zielinski have added 5 goals each. Insigne and Zielinski have added 5 assists each. Koulibaly, Ounas, and Zambo have gone to Africa, while Osimhen and Ruiz are injured. Napoli still has some covid cases as well. As I’ve mentioned, Napoli still has time to reach the top, but I don’t think fans will even forgive them for letting Insigne go.

Sampdoria is now in 15^th place with 20 points, they have scored 28 goals, but their defense is pure garbage with 37 conceded goals in 20 games. Sampdoria is without a win in their last 3 Serie A games, but they have lost only 1 of those 3 games, and they have scored at least 1 goal in all those 3 games. Having injuries is a big problem for Sampdoria as they don’t have a lot of depth when they are healthy, and if players they are missing are some of their best, that is even worse. Also, Candreva is suspended because of the red card. Gabbiadini has scored 7 goals for Sampdoria so far, while Candreva has added 6 goals and 5 assists. In the end, I think Sampdoria will stay in the league without much hassle, but they won’t reach Europe.

The trends are heavily on Napoli’s side, and with Sampdoria’s bad defense, I think this will finally be a game where Napoli will score more than one goal. I’m going with Napoli all the way in this one.