Ascoli – Sampdoria

Italy – Serie B, day 9.

Thursday 07/10/23, h16:15

Ascoli is finding some consistency, with 5 points collected in the last three games. Mister Viali’s boys have improved their tactical balance, conceding less (4 goals in the last four) and scoring more (5). Altogether, they finally have left behind the nervous team that opened this Serie B with 4 red cards in the first 180 minutes of the season. Ascoli’s 14th place still preaches caution, and it is likely they are going to fight for the salvation until the very end. But at least a collective identity is emerging, while some top-class players can help the Black-and-white to achieve the target: Pedro Mendes (5 goals already) is becoming a technical leader envied by most of Ascoli’s direct opponents in the league.

Last chance ahead for Andrea Pirlo. The new coaching cycle at Sampdoria did start as the worst it could not: 5 points (-2 due to penalty) in 8 games and second-last place in the table. After only a few months since the relegation from Serie A, the glorious Blucerchiati are now facing a gloomy, unexpected scenario. The overall value of the team is beyond dispute, yet they can’t perform and assimilate Pirlo’s football: Sampdoria’s main problem is psychological, as all their defeats occurred at home, they often derived from a situation of advantage and were about a single goal difference. It is now time, especially for the most experienced players (Stojanovic, Ricci, Borini: the list is long), to find a significant reaction on the field and start to climb up Serie B’s hierarchies. With or without Pirlo.

Ascoli have won two of the three games played at Stadio Del Duca this season. Sampdoria, if anything, collected all their points on the road showing that the lack of external pressure can be an unhoped-for positive factor. Both teams know to attack, but present several problems in defense (23 goals conceded in total, almost equally distributed). There are all the ingredients for an unstable, relatively high-scoring match.