Next Monday, 1st of December 2014, the impressive Sampdoria of Mihajlovic will measure forces with a Napoli team in a clear crescendo at the overwhelming Luigi Ferraris for round 13 of the Italian Serie A, on a match of the utmost importance for both teams that want to secure their place on that privileged zone of table, keeping their closer opponents at bay.

Sampdoria are probably one of the most wonderful surprises of Serie A this season, with the boys from the former Serbian international footballer Sinisa Mihajlovic showing great class and an impressive attitude on the matches on which they have taken part in so far.

After defeating Fiorentina at home earlier this month, Sampdoria have not yet manage to grant another win at Serie A, as their last two matches ended up in a draw. Last weekend, Samp didn’t manage to get anything better than a 1-1 draw against the newcomers Cesena at Stadio Dino Manuzzi, on a match where they relied on a late own goal to snatch a point.

Mihajlovic reshaped Sampdoria once and for all by bringing in some of the will and perseverance he displayed during his playing days to a team that was adrift on a sea of numbness and lack of ambition. Sampdoria are currently on the 4th position of the Serie A table, with just a single defeat from 12 matches and only nine goals conceded. Their upcoming match might allow them to climb one place in the table in case of win, since Napoli are right above of them with just one more point on the third spot.

For that particular match, the charismatic Serbian manager is not yet certain if he will be able to rely on the contribution of Soriano, Viviano and Mesbah, all of them currently recovering from minor injuries.

As for Napoli, the historical Italian powerhouse are currently enjoying a very positive moment that has started more than one month ago, when they were surprised (2-0) by a mighty Young Boys side on a UEFA Europa League match at Bern, Switzerland. From that match onwards, Rafa Benitez embarked on a good run of three important wins against AS Roma, Fiorentina and Verona. Over the week, Napoli granted their presence on the next round of the Europa League by sealing a goalless draw at Prague against the local Sparta, who accompanied them to the next stage of the above mentioned competition.

It is hard to name any favourites for this important match, but, given Sampdoria’s recent home consistency, they might enjoy from a slight favouritism for the major clash.

Sampdoria

Stats: W-1 L-1 D-3

Recent Form - DDWLD

Napoli

Stats: W-3 L-0 D-2

Recent Form - DDWWW

Possible Line-ups

Sampdoria (4-3-1-2) - Romero - Cacciatore - Silvestre - Gastaldello - Regini - Obiang - Palombo - Soriano - Gabbiadini - Rizzo - Okaka

Napoli (4-2-3-1) - Cabral - Mesto - Albiol - Koulibaly - Britos - Gargano - Lopez - Callejon - Jorginho - Hamsik - Higuain

Prediction

Sampdoria 1 Napoli 0