It’s only been about 7 months when Inter last hosted Sampdoria at the Meazza. That was a defeat Interisti rather not talk about, but a lot has changed at Inter since then. Unbeaten so far this season and that includes tough away trips to Rome and Naples. On the team’s way to 2nd position so far, Inter also managed to beat a team that had spent “200m and won the summer Scudetto.” Below tonight’s match is previewed using Whoscored.com’s numbers for what should be an important game for Inter’s Champions Leaugue ambitions.
Attack:
Inter are scoring almost 2 goals a game as they have racked up 17 in 9 Serie A games so far and have had an average of 14.1 shots a game. Icardi is scoring more than half of what we usually score and he will be a heavily marked man for Giampaolo’s men. Sampdoria too are averaging 2 goals a game(they have played only 8 games) as they have racked up 16. Quagliarella has scored 5 and Zapata 3. Away from home though they have scored only 4 goals in 4 games.
Defence:
Inter, along with Roma and Napoli have statistically been the best defences in Italy this season, all conceding only 5 goals. Inter have only conceded 2 goals at home and both came last week in the derby. Sampdoria, on their travels have conceded 7 goals in 4 games. They have also allowed 16 shots at their goal each time they have set foot outside the Marassi this season.
Moving the ball:
Both teams play a short passing game, as more than 87% of their passes seem to suggest. Inter average 500 short passes each game versus Sampdoria’s 479. Only teams who play more short passes than both of them are Juve and Napoli. Inter average 24 crosses a game, only Chievo are higher with 25. Samp are 10th on that table with 21 crosses each game.
Whoscored Rating Leaders:
Inter’s best players this season so far are Ivan Perisic 7,58 followed by Icardi(7.41 and topscorer with 9 goals) and Milan Skriniar (7.28). Ivan leads the assist count with 4 assists, followed by Candreva and Joao Mario at 3. For Sampdoria, their highest rated player is Zapata with 7.45. He starred in their 5-0 thrashing of Crotone in their last outing at home and was Whoscored’s Man of the match. He also has 2 assists and jointly leads the assist count for Sampdoria so far this season.
Are you expecting an easy win or will the tiredness from the 2 quality games begin to show? Do you have a stat you want us to highlight?
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