Sampdoria-Ascoli, Pirlo focuses on the Alvarez-De Luca pair

Genoa – Pirlo confirms against Ascoli the training rehearsed in the last few days at Mugnaini, Alvarez is among the starters in attack, alongside the forward De Luca. The very young 3-man defense confirms, Barreca preferred to Giordano on the left and Stojanovic to Depaoli, who is still struggling with groin pain. Borini is back on the bench, with Esposito ready to enter the second half. Pedrola, Benedetti, Piccini, Murru, Vieira, Ricci, Ferrari and Andrea Conti are unavailable. In Ascoli the new additions are Quaranta and Caligara.

The formations

Sampdoria: Stankovic; Leoni, Ghilardi, Gonzalez; Stojanovic, Kasami, Yepes, Darboe, Barreca; De Luca, Alvarez. On the bench: Ravaglia, Lotjonen, Depaoli, Giordano, Askildsen, Girelli, F. Conti, Pozzato, Alesi, Ntanda, Esposito, Borini. All.: Pirlo

Ascoli: Vasquez; Bellusci, Mantovani, Quaranta; Falzerano, Valzania, Giovane, Zedadka; Caligara; Rodriguez, Duris. On the bench: Bolletta, Sciammarella, Vaisanen, Celia, D'Uffizi, Tarantino, Milanese, Nestorovski, Bayeye, Tavcar, Maiga Silvestri. All.: Beavers