Udinese striker Cyril Thereau. (Photo : Getty Images)
Struggling team UC Sampdoria (6-7-4, 22 points) is scheduled to meet middling club Udinese Calcio (7-7-3, 24 points) at their home field of Stadio Luigi Ferraris on Thursday, Dec. 22 as the 2016-2017 Serie A season continues.
Start Time and Streaming Info
The game starts at 2:45 p.m. ET. It can be viewed live online thru FuboTV.
Sampdoria is currently on a two-game losing skid and has been winless in four of their last six matches. They are now in the 13th spot of the Italian top flight table, 11 points behind fifth-place team AC Milan, who presently occupied the second and final Europa League qualifying berth for next season.
La Samp was nipped by middling squad Chievo, 1-2, on the road last Sunday at the Stadio Marc'Antonio Bentegodi, as per Sporting Life.
The hosts opened the scoring in the ninth minute with a left-footed shot by Italian forward Riccardo Meggiorini off an assist by Argentine midfielder Lucas Castro. Chievo then doubled their lead in the 41st minute after a successful penalty kick by forward Sergio Pellissier.
Head coach Marco Giampaolo's squad tried to come back in the second half but was only able to score one goal, courtesy of substitute forward Patrik Schick three minutes into stoppage time.
Meanwhile, Udinese blanked newly-promoted club Crotone, 2-0, at their home ground of Dacia Arena also last Sunday, SkySports reported.
Cyril Thereau was the man of the match for head coach Luigi Delneri's team as the French striker netted a brace. Thereau scored the opening goal in the 43rd minute with a close-range right-footer from a pass by Czech midfielder Jakub Jankto before doubling their lead in the 61st with a left-footer, with the assist this time coming from Colombian forward Duvan Zapata.
The win was the third straight for Bianconeri Friuliani as they bounced back from a previous two-game losing slide. Udinese is now 11th in the overall standings, two points ahead of Sampdoria.
Prediction and Predicted Lineup
The predicted result is a 2-1 victory by Udinese.
Sampdoria starting lineup (4-3-1-2 formation): Puggioni; Regini, Skriniar, Sala, Palombo; Alvarez, Praet, Barreto; Torreira; Quagliarella, Muriel
Udinese starting lineup (4-3-3 formation): Karnezis; Samir, Felipe, Angella, Widmer; Jankto, Fofana, Kums; Thereau, De Paul, Zapata
