With the wins against Parma and Rapid Wien taking a touch of pressure off the tense Inter camp, the Nerazzurri look to make it 3 wins from 3 as they host tricky Sampdoria. Match on tomorrow at 18:00 CET.

Despite finally having registered their first league win 2019 against Parma, Inter seem determined to make their lives full of drama with the Icardi fallout in full force. The rest of squad must pull themselves up by the bootstraps and keep their season on track as they host the out-of-sorts Sapmdoria.

As with the Rapid Wien match, expect Luciano Spaletti to keep the same module and tactics as pretty much all season long, just substituting Lautaro Martinez for the unavailable Icardi.

Inter’s woes recently have had to do with scoring impotence more than anything else. The goal drought has, in no small part, been the result of the out-of-sorts Icardi’s miserable form. It will be interesting to see how the team performs with Lautaro at the helm of the attacking efforts for the second match in a row.

Despite having allegedly discovered Milan Skriniar’s heir in Joachim Andersen, Sampdoria are still suspect at the back and have conceded nine goals in their last five matches across all competitions.

Lautaro and company must score more than once if Inter are to win the match; Sampdoria have on their squad one of the league’s most lethal and experienced strikers in Fabio Quagliarella. Alongside the veteran Italian will be Gregoire Defrel and Riccardo Saponara giving the visitors a deadly trident worthy of any defensive line’s undivided attention.

Team News

Naturally, news out of Inter has been dominated by the former captain Mauro Icardi’s fallout with the club heirarchy. Not only has the ex-Captain opted to miss the trip to Vienna, but an alleged knee problem seems to have ruled him out of selection for the squad this match. Better news to Interisti is the return of Keita Balde and Matteo Politano from their respective injury and suspension. Both players will probably play their part in the match, but expect only Politano to start the match.

Probable Inter line-up (4-2-3-1): Handanovic (C); D’Ambrosio, DiVrij, Skriniar, Dalbert; Vecino, Brozovic; Perisic, Nainggolan, Politano; Lautaro

Stats

Last Season: Inter 3 – 2 Sampdoria

Last 10 Head to Head: Inter go into the match with a clear lead in the H2H record. The Nerazzurri have won six times and the visitors have just three wins to their names. Possibly more tellingly is the fact that Inter have beaten Samp in the last three matches between them.

Keep an Eye on

Lautaro Martinez: The other young Argentine striker in Inter’ s squad seems to be biggest benefactor of his ex-captains disciplinary drama with the club. The sparsely utilized hit-man has suddenly been thrust into the spotlight with a mountain of expectation piled on his shoulders. So far El Toro seems to be enjoying the responsibility, not only scoring the winner in Vienna but putting in a comprehensive man of the match performance overall.

Officials

Referee: Daniele Doveri.

Assistants: Carbone and Del Giovane.

Fourth Official: Aureliano.

VAR Assistants: Calvarese and Vivenzi.

Prediction & Concluding Remarks

Prediction & scorers: Inter 2-1 Sampdoria with Lautaro and Nainggolan both scoring.

Concluding remarks: Despite what the current media circus around Inter and Icardi might suggest football remains a sport played on the pitch and at the end of the day all that matters are the numbers on the scoreboard once the final whistle is blown. Inter must win and put in a commanding to help put the drama around the club to bed.