Roma vs Sampdoria Prediction: 13/2 and 7/1 picks as Dybala hits centre stage

The round-of-16 stage of the Coppa Italia continues on Wednesday when Serie B Sampdoria look to deepen the issues being suffered by Roma at the Stadio Olimpico (kick-off 21:00 local, 20:00 GMT, live on Premier Sports 1).

The Giallorossi are in the middle of a horrific run of form, with seven defeats in nine Serie A games having seen off Ivan Juric as head coach and caused headaches for the returning Claudio Ranieri. Here are my Roma vs Sampdoria predictions, along with full preview and odds.

Team News

Roma are expected to go with a fairly strong side as they look to pocket a morale-boosting win, despite the temptation to make multiple changes.

The line-up will not include Mats Hummels though. The 78-cap Germany international has been suffering from a bout of flu this week and so has been missing from training.

There’s still no Bryan Cristante for the Giallorossi, the Italy star being sidelined with an ankle injury, while Manu Kone has also been left out of the matchday squad.

Paulo Dybala is included in the 22-player selection, as is six-goal top scorer Artem Dovbyk.

Doria have a potential Serie B relegation battle to concern themselves with, so new boss Leonardo Semplici might well take the hit here to keep his players fresh for the main aim in the league.

Fabio Borini is the star name in their squad, the former Roma and Liverpool man having scored the late equaliser ahead of their eventual penalty shootout success against hated rivals Genoa in the previous round.

Simone Ghidotti should get the nod ahead of Paolo Vismara and Nicola Ravaglia to start between the sticks having played a starring role in the 0-0 draw against Spezia on Saturday.

The Blucerchiati are without Simone Romagnoli due to an Achilles tendon injury which has ruled him out for the last month, while Bartosz Bereszynski has a muscle problem and Alex Ferrari’s knee injury means he also sits out.

Roma vs Sampdoria Odds

This is one of the few fixtures for which you would see Roma at quite such short odds right at this moment in time. The nine-time Coppa winners are 2/9 to sweep Samp aside within 90 minutes, implying an 81.8% probability of that eventuality.

Doria are 10/1 to win in regulation time, suggesting they are a 9.1% shot, while they are 9/2 to progress to the quarter-finals by any means necessary. That gives them an implied 18.2% hope of seeing off the Lupi at some stage in the evening.

You can get 4/1 for the draw, which would be a repeat of the outcome in the last round for Samp, who came back from an early deficit to Genoa to claim a 1-1 draw and finish the job from the spot despite having had Romagnoli sent off in injury time.

There’s a tempting 19/20 (51.3%) available for Roma to be the only team on the scoresheet, which has come up in each of the last three meetings between these two sides.

Roma to win 3-0 @ 13/2

It’s hard to think of a group of people who need a win more than Ranieri and Roma do right now. The recent sacking of Juric has not paid immediate dividends, and the fans need to see an upturn in performances, results and attitude from their side.

Enter Samp, who have had struggles of their own this term and are now in serious danger of being roped into a proper scrap just to retain their status in Serie B. That would suggest that even a full-strength Doria would find it hard to really challenge Roma, let alone a changed selection should Semplici choose to go down that route.

I can’t see them having enough to really get at the Giallorossi, and despite their 2-0 defeat at Como on Sunday – inflicted by a pair of injury-time goals – there is reason to believe that Roma’s luck might be about to turn.

They have two convincing wins under their belts from their last couple of home games, with the pressure-relieving 4-1 victory over Lecce in Serie A having been followed by a comfortable 3-0 Europa League triumph against Braga.

Chuck in the fact Roma were 3-0 winners over Doria the last time these two sides met (in Serie A in 2022/23), and there is just too much for the visitors to overcome in this one.

I can well see the top-flight club getting ahead and staying ahead, with the 13/2 on offer for a 3-0 win very tempting indeed.

Football Odds

Paulo Dybala to score two or more goals @ 7/1

I know, I know… Dybala has only two goals in total so far this season. Yes, it’s Dovbyk who has been their regular scorer to this point. But this could well be a game in which the World Cup winner with Argentina gets the nod for significant game-time, and I just don’t see him not causing Samp problems.

The 31-year-old has scored just twice in 13 appearances in Serie A in 2024/25, but he has averaged only 60 minutes per game amid Roma’s difficulties in taking control of fixtures. And I believe Wednesday night’s fixture offers them – and, by extension, him – a chance to really take a hold of proceedings.

He might not be the player he was at his peak with Juventus, but Dybala still has the ability to cause nightmares in an opposition back line, and I just have a feeling for him ahead of this clash.

His set-piece armoury could well be key in a game in which Sampdoria might often be left making desperate challenges, and his average of 2.11 shots per game this term ought to be exceeded at the Olimpico given the likely flow of the contest.

He has sent in seven shots in total in his last two 45-minute appearances in the Europa League, but greater time and space will surely be afforded to him by Samp, and that’s why I like the punt on him finding the net more than once at 7/1.

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