Game Time Thread: Juventus vs. Sampdoria

This might surprise you all, but for as much as the Genovese-based teams have sometimes been a troublesome affair for Juventus, Sampdoria’s last six visits to Turin have all ended with the team in black and white stripes coming out victorious. And in those last six home matches against Samp, Juve has scored at least two goals every single time.

So, what you’re saying is ... there’s a chance of all that happening once more?

Of course there is. But at the same time, it’s not exactly like a lot of those six home matches against Sampdoria have come under the same kind of circumstances as this one. Remember, all of a year ago, Andrea Pirlo’s official debut as a manager came against Sampdoria and left us with a whole lot of cautious optimism about what his team could do when things go right. (Hint: They didn’t always go right, or even close to right a good portion of the time.) So now, as Max Allegri tries to get his squad back on track after picking up their first Serie A win midweek against Spezia, in comes the same Sampdoria squad that has lost in its last six visits to Allianz Stadium.

Maybe today will be the day that it’s seven in a row against Sampdoria in Turin.

Or maybe Juve will play like a team that has its eyes on a big Champions League matchup in a few days and drops points again.

Either way, Juventus is looking to win its second straight game in Serie A — which, considering it’s about to be the sixth league game of the season, isn’t exactly all that great to be happy about. But maybe this game, one that is happening during the always-interesting Sunday lunchtime window, is the thing that sees Juventus actually get another three points rather than frustrating us to all hell.

(I guess those two things can both happen, so there’s that.)

Let’s just hope that it does happen to be a seventh straight win at Allianz Stadium against Sampdoria. Maybe even a shutout, too ... although I know that’s a lot to ask for these days.

MATCH INFO

When: Sunday, Sept. 26, 2021.

Where: Allianz Stadium, Turin, Italy.

Official kickoff time: 12:30 p.m. local time in Italy and across Europe; 11:30 a.m. in the United Kingdom; 6:30 a.m. Eastern Time; 3:30 a.m. Pacific Time.

STARTING LINEUP

Juventus starting XI (4-4-2): Perin; Cuadrado, de Ligt, Bonucci, Alex Sandro; Bernardeschi, Bentancur, Locatelli, Chiesa; Dybala, Morata.

Juventus bench: Szczesny, Pinsoglio, De Sciglio, Chiellini, Danilo, Pellegrini, Rugani, Ramsey, McKennie, Kulusevski, Kean.

Sampdoria starting XI (4-4-2): Audero; Bereszynski, Yoshida, Colley, Murru; Candreva, Thorsby, Ekdal, Depaoli; Caputo, Quagliarella.

Sampdoria bench: Ravaglia, Falcone, Augello, Chabot, Silva, Torregrossa, Ciervo, Askildsen, Dragusin, Ferrari, Damsgaard, Trimboli.

HOW TO WATCH

Television: TLN (Canada); BT Sport 1 (United Kingdom); Sky Sport 251, Sky Sport Calcio, Sky Sport 4K (Italy).

Online/mobile: Paramount+ (United States); BTSport.com, BT Sport app (United Kingdom); SKY Go Italia, DAZN, NOW TV (Italy).

Other live viewing options can be found here, and as always, you can also follow along with us live and all the stupid things we say on Twitter. If you haven’t already, join the community on Black & White & Read All Over, and join in the discussion below.