After falling to Inter Milan in the quarterfinals of the Coppa Italia, Napoli will look to bounce back in Serie A play when they face Sampdoria in the Luigi Ferraris

Form 

After dispatching Sassuolo 3-1 last week, Napoli suffered a dissapointing loss to Inter Milan in the Coppa Italia as they crashed out of the tournament midweek. The 2-0 win for Inter was revenge for the 2-1 win Napoli had over them in November. Things got even worse when manager Maurizio Sarri reportedly said a homophobic slur directed towards Inter manager Roberto Mancini

Still Napoli are at top of the Serie A table and will look to keep it that way as the race is very tight. Napoli haven't dropped points in Serie A since their draw with Roma back in the first weeks of December but teams are nipping at their heels After a rough start, Juventus have found their form and find themselves second in Serie A and are two points behind Napoli. With Napoli at 44 points and 4th place Fiorentina at 38 points, the race is pretty tight and dropping points will be painful for any team. 

Sampdoria find themselves midtable and are currently on a mini slide. After a big derby win over Genoa, Sampdoria have lost their past two games against Juventus and Carpi, who are making a run to avoid relegation. Sampdoria now find themselves in a logjam in the standings as just four points seperate 16th place Genoa and 11th place Torino.

Just like Napoli, dropping points could mean dropping closer and closer to the relegation zone. With a new manager and the rumors surrounding midfielder and star player Roberto Soriano, who is linked to Inter Milan, Sampdoria need something positive to help spark the club. 

Team News

Sampdoria are reportedly ready to make a winter signing as they are expected to sign Inter Milan defender Andrea Ranocchia this week according to Italian newspapers. Sampdoria are also linked to Fiorentina's Giuseppe Rossi

Because of his remarks in the Inter Milan game, Maurizio Sarri has been banned for two Coppa Italia games. 

What They're Saying

"Napoli are going at a remarkable tempo, so they are the Scudetto favourites for now, but there are still five teams up there who have a chance of winning the title," said Juventus manager Massimiliano Allegri to Mediaset Premium (via ESPNFC) when asked about who the favorite to win the Serie A title is. 

“We’re all behind the boss, it’s not good but we’ll come out of this thing, and we’re all behind him." said Napoli midfielder Jorginho when asked about what he thought about his coaches comments (via Football Italia). 

Prediction

This is a case of two teams heading in the opposite direction. Ever since their big derby win, it's been downhill for Sampdoria and it's been buisness as usual for Napoli as they keep churning out wins in Serie A. This should be a relatively easy game for the away side and they are expected to take all three points in this fixture. 

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About the author
Vijay Vemu
Vijay is a sports journalist who covers mainly the NBA and soccer. He is a credential reporter on the Chicago Fire and also covers NBA for VAVEL as well. He is also a editor for Mash Chicago, the publication of the Chicago Tribune. He is also a contributor at SB Nation's Blog A Bull and Big East Coast Bias as well as writing on European Soccer as well. He plans on attending the University of Illnois at Chicago (UIC) in the fall with a major in computer science. You can follow him on Twitter : @VJVemu