Inter Milan will be looking for their first Serie A victory since February 9 when they resume their 2019-20 campaign at home to relegation-threatened Sampdoria on Sunday night.
The Italian giants lost to Napoli in the Coppa Italia semi-finals last weekend and will now switch their focus back to the league, where they currently sit third, nine points off leaders Juventus.
Match preview
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Inter's flying form in Serie A had seen them match Juve stride-for-stride for a long period, but Antonio Conte's side lost their last two league matches before the lockdown period.
Indeed, a 2-1 defeat at Lazio on February 16 was followed by a 2-0 loss at Juve, meaning that Inter are playing catch-up on the top two in Italy as they are also eight points off second-placed Lazio.
I Nerazzurri do have a game in hand over the two sides above them, though, and there is no question that they will be desperate to return to winning ways this weekend.
Inter were, of course, in Coppa Italia action last weekend, drawing 1-1 with Napoli in the second leg of their semi-final to lose 2-1 on aggregate, before Gennaro Gattuso's side went on to beat Juve in Wednesday's final.
The Black and Blues have been in strong form at San Siro this season, winning seven of their 12 Serie A matches, suffering just one defeat in the process. They have also won their last four five league fixtures against Sampdoria, including a 3-1 success in the reverse clash earlier this season.
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While Inter will be looking for all three points to boost their hopes of catching Juve and Lazio, Sampdoria need a positive result to enhance their chances of staying clear of the relegation zone. Indeed, I Blucerchiati are currently 16th in Italy's top flight, just a point ahead of 18th-placed Leece.
Sampdoria have not played outside of Serie A since the 2011-12 campaign, while they have finished 10th, 10th and ninth respectively in their last three seasons at this level.
It has been a struggle this term, though, and the fact that they have won two of their last three Serie A matches and are still in trouble is an indication of their problems.
Claudio Ranieri's side have enough time and enough quality to move clear of the drop zone, but a disappointing result this weekend would certainly leave them vulnerable to the teams below them.
Inter Serie A form: DDWWLL
Inter form (all competitions): LLWWLD
Sampdoria Serie A form: LDLWLW
Team News
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Inter have no confirmed absentees ahead of this weekend's contest, meaning that Conte has plenty of decisions to make when it comes to team selection, particularly in midfield and attack.
Romelu Lukaku and Lautaro Martinez are again expected to start as the front two with support from Christian Eriksen, although Alexis Sanchez is also likely to be in Conte's thinking for this game.
Stefano Sensi is also pushing for a spot in the middle of the park, but Marcelo Brozovic and Nico Barella are again expected to get the nod, with Ashley Young also keeping out Cristiano Biraghi at left wing-back.
As for Sampdoria, Alex Ferrari has been ruled out of the contest, while Ronaldo Vieira and Albin Ekdal will reportedly face late fitness tests to determine their level of involvement.
Morten Thorsby and Karol Linetty could both start if Vieira and Ekdal are unable to prove their fitness, but the bulk of the XI that started against Hellas Verona is expected to feature here.
Indeed, 37-year-old Fabio Quagliarella scored his eighth and ninth league goals of the season in his side's last league game and should again be joined by Manolo Gabbiadini in the final third of the field.
Inter possible starting lineup:
Handanovic; Skriniar, De Vrij, Bastoni; Young, Brozovic, Barella, Candreva; Eriksen; Lukaku, Martinez
Sampdoria possible starting lineup:
Audero; Bereszynski, Tonelli, Yoshida, Augello; Depaoli, Thorsby, Jankto, Linetty; Quagliarella, Gabbiadini
We say: Inter 2-0 Sampdoria
The fact that Inter played last weekend is likely to be an advantage for Conte's side, who will be looking to bounce back from successive league defeats before the lockdown period. Sampdoria are capable of harming the hosts in the final third, but we fancy the Milan giants to put an important three points on the board.
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Inter Milan win with a probability of 65.18%. A draw had a probability of 20% and a win for Sampdoria had a probability of 14.82%.
The most likely scoreline for a Inter Milan win was 2-0 with a probability of 11.26%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-0 (10.84%) and 2-1 (9.86%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (9.49%), while for a Sampdoria win it was 0-1 (4.56%). The actual scoreline of 2-1 was predicted with a 9.9% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Inter Milan would win this match.
