Friday’s Serie A action gets underway at the Stadio Arechi as season-long bottom-half strugglers Salernitana take out out-of-sorts Inter in a high-stakes encounter. The visitors’ stuttering pursuit of a sixth consecutive top-four finish has taken a series of blows, and there’s no room for error anymore.
The appointment of former Poland national team coach Paulo Sousa in mid-February has proved a massive upgrade on Davide Nicola’s ill-fated tenure. Despite going down 2-0 at home to Lazio on his touchline debut, the Portuguese tactician has galvanized the underperforming Salernitana side in the aftermath.
After an overwhelming 3-0 home victory over Serie A debutants Monza in late February, Sousa’s men have racked up four consecutive league draws, moving nine points clear of the red zone. However, a stomach-wrenching 1-1 stalemate at out-of-form Spezia last weekend left a lot to be desired, especially with Salernitana going ahead on the stroke of halftime.
Like the Granata, Inter will be out to buck a negative trend, albeit for all different reasons. Last weekend’s underwhelming 1-0 home defeat to Fiorentina bookended the visitors’ woeful three-match losing run in Serie A, accounting for the club’s longest streak of league defeats since 2017.
Not only have the Nerazzurri lost their last three Serie A fixtures, but they failed to get on the scoresheet on each occasion, dropping out of Champions League placings for the first time in 2023. Head coach Simone Inzaghi has naturally come under heavy scrutiny, with frustrated fans voicing their discontent via social media.
Romelu Lukaku’s last-gasp penalty in Tuesday’s controversial 1-1 draw against Juventus in the first leg of their Coppa Italia semi-final tie may have only temporarily saved Inzaghi’s skin. But another below-par result at the Arechi could prove the end of the road for the former Lazio boss.
Match Preview
Salernitana
To better understand the extent of Sousa’s impact, 25% of Salernitana’s Serie A points this season have come in the last five rounds (W1, D4). Despite establishing a comfortable nine-point cushion on 18th-placed Hellas Verona, the hosts cannot afford to rest on their laurels if they’re to avoid dragging their survival battle to the final weekend.
Playing at the Arechi might not necessarily be a good omen for Salernitana. They have registered just one win in seven Serie A home outings since the calendar year flipped to 2023 (D2, L4), courtesy of the abovementioned demolition of Monza. However, three of their four defeats during that stretch came at the hands of the current top-six sides, seeing them lose by 2+ goals ‘to nil.’
Player to Watch: Antonio Candreva
Despite hitting the autumn of his playing career, the 36-year-old Antonio Candreva is still a force to be reckoned with, something Inter have witnessed first-hand on multiple occasions. Indeed, their former employee has amassed six league goals against them and will be looking to add to the tally on Friday.
Inter
With nothing but a superior goal difference separating Inter from fifth-placed Roma at the start of this round, Inter will be desperate to get back to winning ways, especially as they’re about to meet Benfica in the Champions League quarter-finals. However, despite the clear gulf between the sides, the visitors will likely have to roll up their sleeves to take home all three points.
In addition to their abovementioned rough patch, Inzaghi’s men have been utterly inconsistent on the road across their last five Serie A travels (W1, D2, L2). Inter’s defensive woes have seen them concede 24+ goals after the first 13 away league matches for the first time since 1947/48, highlighting their backline as the team’s weak link.
If that’s not enough to make traveling fans feel worried, Inter’s negative H2H away record against Salernitana (W1, L2) should.
Player to Watch: Lautaro Martinez
Keen to break his scoring drought in Serie A, marquee striker Lautaro Martinez could be meeting an opponent of his taste after scoring five times in his three Serie A appearances against Salernitana. He opened the scoring in the reverse fixture as Inter coasted to a 2-0 win in October.
Team News
Domen Crnigoj and Pasquale Mazzocchi are only doubts in the home side, meaning Sousa can still rely on his formidable attacking duo Boulaye Dia and Krzysztof Piatek to do their thing in the front third.
As for Inter, a thigh injury has seen Hakan Calhanoglu join long-term absetnee Dalbert on the sidelines. Besied the Turkish playmaker, Inzaghi will be without wantway defender Milan Skriniar and second-string right-back Danilo D’Ambrosio.
Salerntiana vs Inter Potential Lineups
Salernitana (3-4-2-1): Guillermo Ochoa; Flavious Daniliuc, Norbert Gyomber, Lorenzo Pirola; Domagoj Bradaric, Tonny Vilhena, Lassana Coulibaly, Junior Sambia; Antonio Candreva, Boulaye Dia; Krzysztof Piatek.
Inter (3-5-2): Andre Onana; Alessandro Bastoni, Francesco Acerbi, Matteo Darmian; Denzel Dumfries, Nicolo Barella, Marcelo Brozovic, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Federico Dimarco; Edin Dzeko, Lautaro Martinez.
Salernitana vs Inter Prediction
Anything other than there points would likely halt Inzaghi’s faltering managerial tenure at Inter. Therefore, we expect the visitors to come at Salernitana at full bore and put a disastrous spell of form to bed.
Prediction: Inter Win
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