Fulham vs Sampdoria Predictions, Betting Tips and Match Previews

Fulham had the perfect end to last season, beating Aston Villa in the Championship play-off final to reach the promised land of the Premier League after a number of years away from it.

Slavica Jokanovic’s side did so by playing some great football, which involved dynamic offensive play, spearheaded by playmaker Tom Cairney, winger Ryan Sessegnon and striker Alexander Mitrovic. The trio formed the core of the team and were the predominate reason why Fulham were so enjoyable to watch, scoring an excellent average of 1.67 goals per game, although the whole team and manager deserve a lot of credit as well.

The summer transfer window has also been a fantastic one for Fulham. The club have acquired some truly top-class players, particularly midfielder Jean-Michael Seri, a player who was on the verge of a transfer to Barcelona just a year ago, and former Chelsea and Germany star Andre Schurrle. Alexander Mitrovic has been signed permanently, which means the team will have their star target man again. The loss of right-back Ryan Fredricks to West Ham is a blow, but in Cyrus Christie they have more than a competent replacement. All in all then, Fulham have had some of the most impressive transfer dealings in the Premier League thus far.

However, Fulham have not matched transfers with pre-season results. The team have not scored in three games, with a goalless draw against Reading preceding two heavy defeats against Fenerbahce and Lyon, which saw them concede seven goals. Although Fulham were not expected to beat these teams, the apparent lack of competitiveness should create a bit of worry, especially for how Fulham will play against superior teams. Despite this, Fulham appear to be well-placed to not only compete in the Premier League but also to survive.

Sampdoria will have been content with their 2017/18 performance, finishing 10th, well away from any potential for a relegation battle but not enough to challenge for Europe.

The team were imperious at home, losing only four times throughout the season and driven by mercurial striker Fabio Quagliarella and partner Duvan Zapata, scoring 30 goals between them in Serie A last season. In addition, the team had creativity throughout it, with former Middlesbrough star Gaston Ramirez and promising midfielder Dennis Praet supporting the two strikers. However, the amount of goals the team conceded held it back. Sampdoria let in 60 goals during the 2017/18 league campaign, by far the worst of any team inside the top 10 and the fifth-worst in the league overall.

To resolve this, centre-back Omar Colley has been brought in from Genk, whilst promising youngsters in left-back Junior Tavares and Emil Audero have been acquired from Sao Paulo and Juventus respectively. Although, the club has lost star midfielder Lucas Torreira to Arsenal, whilst promising striker Patrick Schick has now signed permanently with Roma, as well as the departure of Duvan Zapata to Atlanta. These represent big losses to the team and it will be a struggle to replicate last season which saw them finish 10th. However, the acquisition of Udinese midfielder Jakob Jankto, a player who has huge potential, could go some way to cover for these departures.

Sampdoria are unbeaten during pre-season, drawing once and winning twice, including a 3-1 defeat of newly-promoted Parma. Whether they can show this sort of form consistently throughout next season is another question.

Indeed, we do not see them carrying on their unbeaten streak against Fulham. Whilst Fulham’s pre-season form hasn’t been great, Sampdoria’s recent awful away record, losing their last four, combined with last season, where they won only four times and lost 12 means we think Fulham can edge out a victory against the Italian team, particularly if new signings like Seri play a part. It will be a tight game however, as Sampdoria do possess some real talent in their ranks particularly in their midfield, and a 2-1 Correct Score bet could be of value.