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Coppa Italia: Sampdoria vs AC Milan preview

Kickoff: Thursday, 17 December @20:00 GMT

Venue: Stadio Luigi Ferraris (Genoa)

Head to head record

Milan vs Sampdoria 4-1 (2015/2016 Serie A)
Milan vs Sampdoria 1-1 (2014/2015 Serie A)
Sampdoria vs Milan 2-2 (2014/2015 Serie A)
Sampdoria vs Milan 0-2 (2013/2014 Serie A)
Milan vs Sampdoria 1-0 (2013/2014 Serie A)

Sampdoria vs AC Milan prediction

Milan are celebrating their 116th birthday today, but there is no time for big parties as they are visiting Sampdoria in the last sixteen of the Coppa Italia. The Rossoneri’s boss, Siniša Mihajlović, who achieved great success both as Sampa’s player and coach, will forget about emotions in the forthcoming fixture and try to knockout the Blucerchiati from the cup. On the other hand, Montella is on a four-match winless run since his arrival, his lads are hungry for victory and are hoping to make at least one step further than last term, when they were eliminated by Inter.

Montella yet to taste victory as Sampdoria manager

The fact is that the Samp are not the team they were last season, when Siniša Mihajlović was in charge. Walter Zenga proved a poor solution, given his miserable results, and was replaced by Vincenzo Montella. The former Italian striker has yet to taste victory in Serie A this season, but he managed to end a run of four successive defeats in the league, having shared spoils with Lazio (1-1) at Stadio Olimpico. The game looked like yet another sure loss for Sampdoria as the final wistle was approaching, but Zukanović’s last-minute free-kick secured a vital point for the Blucerchiati, giving the team a spark of hope that better days are coming. Now it’s up to the team to prove that this was not a mere fortuity, and they will have the first chance to do so in the clash against the Rossoneri.

The biggest problem for Sampdoria is the injury of their main hitman this season, Eder. The Brazilian, who scored 10 goals in Serie A, suffered a thigh injury and is supposed to miss both of the final games in 2015. Having in mind that Montella’s men scored 22 goals in total this season, it is obvious how mutch Eder will be missed tomorrow night. Another concern for the manager is his leaky defense, which capitulated 26 times this term, but, truth being told, 15 of those goals were conceded in away fixtures. Their home record is far better (W4 D2 L2), and all of this season’s victories were recorded at Stadio Luigi Ferraris. Milan are not a team who tend to produce outstanding performances in away fixtures this term (W2 D2 L4) and this fact gives Sampdoria hope they could be successful yet again.

Apart from the abovementioned injury problem fir Eder, Montella has no other injury concerns, and will have the rest of his team at disposal.

Watch the Match via bet365 Live Stream

 

Mihajlović under heavy pressure

Mihajlović returns to Stadio Luigi Ferraris where he spent the last season and led the home team to a seventh-place finish in Serie A. The Samp fans probably still remember his emotional farewell letter from June, but emotions will have to be put aside, since the Serb is in a must win situation for Milan’s next two games. Even though the Rossonerri invested heavily in reinforcements this summer, especially in attack, Milan’s performance showed no progress in comparison to last season under Inzaghi, with only 20 scored goals and 19 conceded in previous sixteen matches in Serie A. Bacca scored more than a third of those goals, but the impression is he could be doing far better if given a chance, since he scored 7 goals out of only 18 shots. Serbian coach’s defensive tactics seems to suffocate great individual skills his players clearly possess, and things need to change if Miha plans to further his stay at San Siro. The recent home slip-up against Verona (1-1) only heated up rumors about his premature departure, since Berlusconi is supposedly furious with the recent run of events.

Nevertheless, Mihajlović will have the final say, but he needs to start winning immediately, and his first chance is against Sampdoria. In their previous encounter less than a month ago, the Red and Blacks hammered the Blue-ringed on home ground (4-1), and, what is more, gave away hardly anything but a late penalty to their opponents. Milan have a totally different face in the Coppa Italia this term, having recorded a flawless streak in their previous two matches against Perugia (2-0) and Crotone (3-1). Aditionally, the Rossoneri are on a six-game unbeaten run against Montella’s squad, having lost only one game in previous ten matches, and that game was at San Siro. Furthermore, Siniša Mihajlović’s lads have always progressed to the cup quarter-finals in the last six seasons. The fact is that history is in favour of the San Siro-based team, but will history repeat itself – the answer will come tomorrow night.

Milan will probably be without the likes of Mario Balotelli and Alex, who were absent from training due to flu, but they have no fresh injury worries.

Quick Facts

  • Milan are on a five-game unbeaten run at Stadio Luigi Ferraris (W2 D3)
  • The Red and Blacks lost only one of their previous ten fixtures against Sampdoria (W5 D4)
  • The Rossoneri managed to advance to the quarter-finals of the Coppa Italia in previous six attempts
  • Sampdoria last won a home fixture against Milan in May 2010 (2-1)
  • The Samp scored their last victory this term in October against Hellas Verona (4-1)
  • The two teams scored 2.3 goals on average in their previous ten matches

Sampdoria vs AC Milan betting tip

Bearing in mind that both managers are under serious pressure, I believe that they will not go storming to attack. Also, Sampdoria’s key attacker is unavailable for this match, and the Rossoneri score less than a goal per game in away fixtures this term. This is why I don’t think we will witness a lot of goals tomorrow night.

Tip: Under 2.5 goals

Odds: 1.95 (19/20) @BetVictor

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