Sampdoria play host to Bologna on Sunday afternoon looking to bounce back from their first defeat in five matches before the international break.
Meanwhile, Bologna travel to the Luigi Ferraris Stadium having lost four of their last five games in Serie A, a run which has left the club in 14th position in the table.
Match preview
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In seven matches either side of the summer break, Claudio Ranieri watched his Sampdoria players pick up just two points from a possible 21, form which inevitably led to speculation regarding his future.
However, Sampdoria responded with four successive wins in all competitions, a run of results which included surprise victories over Lazio and Atalanta BC.
Although failure to defeat either Genoa or Cagliari has halted the club's progress up the table, Sampdoria and Ranieri find themselves in a much stronger position than at the start of October.
Having dropped back down to 10th position, the experienced Italian knows that he still has much work to do, but prevailing from Sunday's fixture could take I Blucerchiati into the top seven.
While Fabio Quagliarella remains as the team's top goalscorer, the 37-year-old has gone two games without finding the back of the net.
Opponents Bologna head into this fixture having lost all but one of their league matches since the second weekend of the season, their solitary success coming in a thriller with Cagliari.
Their four defeats either side of that win have all been by one-goal margins, but Sinisa Mihajlovic knows that his team must start getting points on the board.
Although pushing Lazio and Napoli suggests that I Rossoblu are heading in the right direction, Bologna are still looking for their first Serie A clean sheet since September 2019.
Despite netting seven times in four matches, that undesirable record is undermining their efforts to make headway up the table.
Sampdoria Serie A form: LWWWDL
Sampdoria form (all competitions): WWWWDL
Bologna Serie A form: WLLLWL
Bologna form (all competitions): LLLWWL
Team News
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Bologna are expected to be without Aaron Hickey after the youngster was forced to withdraw from Scotland Under-21s duty through injury.
The left-back has featured in a congested treatment room, but Stefano Denswil has an opportunity to stake his claim for a regular place in the first XI.
Sampdoria will have to do without Lorenzo Tonelli and Tommaso Augello, who both miss this game through suspension.
Omar Colley could be brought into the centre of defence, while Mikkel Damsgaard is pushing for a recall in midfield.
Sampdoria possible starting lineup:
Audero; Bereszynski, Colley, Yoshida, Regini; Candreva, Thorsby, Ekdal, Jankto; Quagliarella, Ramirez
Bologna possible starting lineup:
Skorupski; Silvestri, Danilo, Tomiyasu, Denswil; Schouten, Dominguez; Orsolini, Soriano, Barrow; Palacio
We say: Sampdoria 1-1 Bologna
Both clubs will view this as an opportunity to make headway up the standings, particularly in the case of the home side who can move to within touching distance of the top six. However, Bologna were much improved in their last outing, and we feel that they will build on that performance this weekend.
