Sampdoria vs Lazio preview - Tough stretch begins at Samp

Posted Friday, May 15, 2015 by PA

Lazio begin their most important three-game stretch of the season with a match at Sampdoria on Saturday.

The Romans do not have much room for error as they attempt to finish in Serie A's top three to seal a place in next season's Champions League.

Lazio won eight consecutive games to climb into second place before losing at Juventus a month ago - and they have not been the same team since.

The Biancocelesti have won just one of their last five games to drop to third in the standings.

After this weekend's game against Samp, Lazio will host Roma in the derby and then end their campaign against fellow Champions League hopefuls Napoli.

"We have three very difficult games," Lazio president Claudio Lotito told the Italian press.

"We have the possibility to qualify for the Champions League and that would be a dream considering that no one would have expected it from us at the of the season.

"We must rediscover the fighting spirit we displayed earlier this year."

Lazio missed a chance to leapfrog Roma into second place after losing 2-1 at home to Inter Milan last time out.

Head coach Stefano Pioli will be forced to make changes to his starting XI as goalkeeper Federico Marchetti as well as midfielder Mauricio are both suspended while midfielder Lucas Biglia is out with a knee injury.

Etrit Berisha will replace Marchetti in between the posts.

Samp are in the race to qualify for the Europa League.

The Genoa outfit halted a six-match winless run with a 4-1 triumph at Udinese last weekend.

The win, Samp's first since March 22, lifted them to sixth place, one point clear of city rivals Genoa.

"It would be a pity not to finish in the top six to qualify for Europe," said Samp coach Sinisa Mihajlovic. "We don't want to have any regrets and that is why we must take as many points as possible from our final three games."

Samp have lost just once at home this season and will be without defenders Lorenzo De Silvestri and Alessio Romagnoli as well as midfielder Pedro Obiang, who are all serving one-match bans this weekend.