Reigning Serie A champions Inter head into the final day of the Serie A season with the faintest of hopes about winning back-to-back titles for the first time in over a decade. Bottom-half Sampdoria, who have secured another top-flight season despite a troublesome campaign, will be looking to throw another spanner in Simone Inzaghi’s bid to land his first-ever Scudetto.
Despite winning their last three league matches in a row, including a come-from-behind 4-2 triumph over Empoli in their most recent outing at Giuseppe Meazza, Inter are on the verge of falling short of bitter rivals Milan in an enthralling Scudetto race. Coming into the final matchday, the Nerazzurri trail their city rivals by two points and need Sassuolo to beat Stefano Pioli’s men to clear them the way to the title.
But in addition to Sassuolo’s must-win home game against in-form Milan, Inter will have to overcome a spirited Sampdoria side to keep their end of the bargain. Even though they have nothing but pride left to play for, Marco Giampaolo’s lads have shown tremendous mental fortitude by dispatching Europa Conference League hopefuls Fiorentina 4-1 on the road last time out.
Match Preview
Inter
Following an underwhelming spell of form at the turn of the year, Inter have hit the ground running, as they take the field having won four of their five previous Serie A home games (D1), including the last three in a row. Notably, each of those four triumphs has yielded multi-goal margins, with the Nerazzurri netting 3+ goals in three of them.
Another ‘walk in the park’ could be the order of the day, as Inter have won their last four home league meetings with Sampdoria, scoring 2+ goals on each occasion. The prospect of a high-scoring contest should not be underestimated either, with their last six Serie A H2hs all featuring 3+ total goals, at an average of 3.83 per match.
Even though Inter boast a decent shutout ratio of 39% at home this season, having kept a clean sheet in seven of their 18 league games at Meazza, conceding may not be a problem for Inzaghi’s high-flyers. Indeed, the reigning Italian champions have bounced back from letting in the opening goal at home to claim all three points in 50% of their six such fixtures this term (W3, D1, L2).
Sampdoria
Since drawing 1-1 away at Hellas Verona in late April, Sampdoria have alternated between winning (2) and losing (1) in their last three Serie A outings. Interestingly, that stalemate at Marc’Antonio Bentegodi remains Sampdoria’s solitary draw in 18 Serie A fixtures this calendar year (W5, L12), highlighting their ‘all or nothing’ mentality.
However, playing away from home has proved rather tricky for La Samp in 2022, as they have suffered seven defeats on their nine Serie A travels since the turn of the year (W1, D1). A lack of scoring prowess has seen Giampaolo’s team fail to get on the scoresheet in six of those seven reverses, suggesting another tormenting evening could be on the cards.
Conceding the opener will likely spell disaster for Sampdoria’s hopes of staging an upset at Meazza, at least based on their lack of character. The visitors have surrendered the points in ten out of 11 Serie A away games in which they shipped the opening goal this season (D1).
Inter vs Sampdoria Team News
Inter will be without the outgoing midfielder Roberto Gagliardini due to a foot injury, but Inzaghi will have the remainder of his star-studded squad fit and ready.
On the other hand, Sampdoria boss Giampaolo cannot call upon the services of Manolo Gabbiadini and Omar Colley through injury and suspension, respectively.
Inter Potential Starting XI (3-5-2): Samir Handanovic; Federico Dimarco, Milan Skriniar, Stefan de Vrij; Denzel Dumfries, Nicolo Barella, Marcelo Brozovic, Hakan Calhanoglu, Ivan Perisic; Joaquin Correa, Lautaro Martinez.
Sampdoria Potential Starting XI (4-1-4-1): Emil Audero; Bartosz Bereszynski, Alex Ferrari, Giangiacomo Magnani, Tommaso Augello; Ronaldo Viera; Antonio Candreva, Tomas Rincon, Morten Thorsby, Abdelhamid Sabiri; Francesco Caputo.