With Roma playing host to Sampdoria for the first encounter of the New Year at the Stadio Olimpico on Sunday (kick-off: 15:00 CET), we look at all the pre-match preamble you need to know going into the Giallorossi’s opening matchday of 2021...

SAMPDORIA

League position: 11th
Form: L L W W L
Serie A top-scorer: Fabio Quagliarella (7)
Last time out in Serie A: Sampdoria 2-3 Sassuolo

Previous meetings

This weekend will be the 124th Serie A meeting between these two teams, of which Roma have won 50 (40 per cent) to Sampdoria’s 39 victories so far and 30 of the Giallorossi wins have come from 63 games as hosts to La Samp.

Not only do Roma have the historic edge in this fixture, but also the recent advantage; they are both four unbeaten (W3, D1) versus Sampdoria and have won four of their last five when hosting the men from Liguria, scoring at least twice in each of those successes.

This weekend’s visitors to the capital have also lost each of the previous two at the Olimpico and, oddly enough, three of the last seven Roma-Sampdoria league fixtures have been played in January.

Form guide

From their first 10 outings in all competitions, Paulo Fonseca’s side remain unbeaten on home soil this season (W7, D3) - Roma’s best start to a campaign at the Olimpico since 2013-14 - and have collected more points (17) at home than any other team in the league.

Key to the form that has seen the Giallorossi begin the new year in third-place has been their superb record in front of goal, scoring three times in each of three wins from their last four matches of 2020.

Only AC Milan (32) and Inter Milan (34) have scored more times than Roma (31) after 14 matchdays, while no team has managed more first half goals that Roma’s 19 - a number that includes a league-high seven in the first 15 minutes of matches and a Serie A best 10 from minutes 30-45.

Sampdoria - who have two wins from their last three matches - have a goal-scoring formula of their own and no side has registered more strikes from corners than their six, although Roma are one of only three teams, yet to concede from one.

In comparison, Roma’s own set-piece record of four converted penalties stands up far better when put against the fact Sampdoria have conceded the most times (four, alongside Spezia) from the spot.

Players in numbers

A few Roma players will remember Sampdoria games fondly, with Lorenzo Pellegrini scoring his first Serie A goal against them in 2015, as did Marash Kumbulla in 2019.

Giallorossi captain Edin Dzeko - who’s in line to make his 200th Roma start on Sunday and hit a brace in Roma’s 2-1 win when these teams last met in June - also has five goals from meetings with the blue and whites, an Italian top-flight return he only outstrips against a single club with his six efforts past Atalanta.

Likewise, Bruno Peres’ two goals in Sampdoria meetings also represent his best return against any one team in Serie A.

In the opposition ranks, Roma will need to be wary of Sampdoria skipper Quagliarella who has seven goals already this term - including two in each of his last two - but the 37-year-old has gone two games without a goal when facing Roma.

What they’ve said

“We will go to Rome being fully aware of the fact that we’re facing a team that’s third in the table. They seem to find a goal with every single action that they develop. We have to play the perfect match and be focused.

“I do this job for the emotions it gives me. Roma is different: it’s my city and my team, but I am a professional — you always try your best when you’re on the pitch, but it’s going to be very emotional.”

“We are preparing to face a team with ideas and quality but we will try to exploit the strengths that we have. The team has a great desire to get back on track after the loss against Sassuolo.”

- Sampdoria coach Claudio Ranieri, who was born in Rome, made six appearances for the club as a player and coached the Giallorossi twice.