Sampdoria vs Milan 30/07/20

30 July 2020

AC Milan head to the Stadio Luigi Ferraris to take on Sampdoria in the penultimate Serie A round, seeking all three points that would bring them a step away from sealing Europa League qualification.

Two consecutive defeats in the build-up to this fixture means that none of Sampdoria’s last 15 Serie A games have ended in a draw (W7, L8). Notably, all of those results (wins/losses) have seen the winner on the day score at least two goals, with 40% (six) yielding the identical 2-1 scoreline. Slow-starting ‘Blucerchiati’ have shipped the opening goal (if any) in a league second-high 12 of 18 top-flight home outings this season, eventually losing eight such matches (W3, D1). That’s because 61.54% (16) of their 26 Serie A home goals conceded this term arrived in the first half. The ‘clean-sheet’ theme remains essential, though, as none of their last six competitive H2Hs held in Genoa saw both teams score (W2, D1, L3).

Meanwhile, resurgent visitors have yet to taste defeat since the resumption of football (W7, D3), with a 1-1 home draw with Atalanta last time out marking the first Serie A game post restart in which they’ve failed to score over 1.5 goals. Milan’s average of 2.8 goals scored per match since the restart significantly eclipses their season average of 1.56 goals. In fact, Stefano Pioli’s men have netted 28 goals across those ten fixtures since the return of football, which matches their output in the previous 26 league outings. Against this backdrop, the ‘Rossoneri’ have notched over 1.5 goals only twice in their last ten top-flight trips to Sampdoria (W3, D3, L4).