Newly-crowned Serie A champions Inter welcome Sampdoria to the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza on Saturday evening. Since the two sides last met in January, the Nerazzurri have gone on a rampage while La Samp blew hot and cold.
Inter have won their first Serie A title since the 2009-10 campaign with four matches to spare, with a 2-1 loss to Sampdoria in the reverse fixture the turning point. Meanwhile, the Genoa-based outfit hover in mid-table after failing to establish consistency in the past few months.
Inter vs. Sampdoria Head-To-Head
Sampdoria ran out victors at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris in January to end a six-game losing streak against Inter in Serie A. Since a 1-0 home triumph in October 2016, the Blucerchiati have failed to keep a clean sheet in their subsequent eight top-flight meetings with this opposition, conceding an average of 2.25 goals per game.
Sampdoria could complete their first Serie A double over Inter since 2016/17 and only their third ever. The last time these two sides played out a draw in the Italian top-tier competition was in October 2015, with the Nerazzurri winning seven of their subsequent ten league H2Hs (L3).
Teams Recent Forms
Inter have hit the ground running in Serie A since the abovementioned loss at Sampdoria, going undefeated in 18 league matches on the trot since then (W14, D4).
Having won each of their last 13 home Serie A fixtures, the Nerazzurri could record 14 consecutive league victories at the Giuseppe Meazza for the first time in the club history. Antonio Conte’s men have outplayed Sampdoria in each of their last three top-flight encounters on home turf despite failing to keep a clean sheet in any of them.
Inter’s tally of 74 goals scored this Serie A season is second only to Atalanta, though no team has netted more second-half goals than the newly-crowned champions (51) so far. Moreover, the hosts have found the net beyond the 75th minute in 50% of their home league outings this term (8/16).
As for Sampdoria – they have not drawn a Serie A match since being held to a 1-1 stalemate to AC Milan away from home in early April (W3, L2). Four of the five games won/lost in that period saw the winner on the day register a shutout.
However, Claudio Ranieri’s players have struggled away from home lately, having won just once in their last seven Serie A trips (D3, L3), courtesy of a narrow 1-0 triumph at relegated Crotone on Matchday 32.
The visitors have developed a habit of falling behind without recovering, frustratingly surrendering the points in 70% of the away league fixtures in which they conceded first this term (GP10 – D3, L7). On the flip side, though, they have ended up winning four out of five Serie A travels after picking up a half-time lead (L1).
Predicted Line-ups
Inter (3-5-2): Samir Handanović; Alessandro Bastoni, Stefan de Vrij, Milan Škriniar; Ivan Perisic, Christian Eriksen, Marcelo Brozovic, Nicolo Barella, Achraf Hakimi; Alexis Sanchez, Romelu Lukaku
Sampdoria (4-4-1-1): Emil Audero; Bartosz Bereszyński, Lorenzo Tonelli, Omar Colley, Tommaso Augello; Mikkel Damsgard, Morten Thorsby, Jakub Jankto, Adrien Silva; Manolo Gabbiadini; Fabio Quagliarella