Tonight Inter head to the Stadio Luigi Ferraris to take on Sampdoria where the Blucerchiati find themselves in a far different situation than what they finished last season in.

Fabio Quagliarella was in the form of his life and helped Samp to a 9th place finish in Serie A and finished as the capocannonierre to top off a successful year. This season however, is much different, with the constant rumors that “crazy” Massimo Ferrero is looking to sell the club, and Eusebio di Francesco struggling to get the best out of his squad, it is safe to say they are under-performing by quite some margin and Inter, being in the form that they are in, should breeze past them.

Antonio Conte’s start to his inaugural season with Inter has been perfect, he has already placed himself in Inter’s rich history by being the only coach to win all of their first 5 matches in the league. Inter could be set to rotate a few more players again this weekend, having played Lazio on Wednesday, and face Barcelona the Wednesday following their match-up with Sampdoria, then face Juventus in the Derby D’Italia the following Sunday.

It is a busy schedule for the Nerrazzuri with some very big games included in this so rotation will be key for Conte in this match.

Lets have a look at how the teams are performing stats wise so far this season.

Attack

Inter have been impeccable this season. They have played 5, won 5, scored 10 goals (averaging 2 per game), conceded 1 (average 0.2 per game) an xG average of 1.53 and an xG against average of 0.74. Inter’s last match saw them come out as 1-0 winners at home to Lazio, a tough opponent who created a lot of chances and really tested Inter’s defence to the limit.

This fixture saw Inter concede their highest xG against at 1.33, which is huge when you compare this to the second highest which is 0.71 (Milan). This stat shows how important Samir Handanovic was in this match, as well as the three center backs, but also how wasteful Lazio were going forward and seriously lacked that killer instinct in the final third.  Inter achieved an xG of exactly 1.

Looking at this makes it seem like Inter robbed Lazio slightly, but Inter were the better side overall as they controlled the majority of possession (62%) had the most shots (12-10), the most passes (593-294) and most recoveries/challenges won (86/96-71/89).

Not only this, but Inter should really have won by more than the solitary goal, most notably when Berella was 1v1 with Strakosha, and when Lautaro snatched a shot wide at the near post after nicking the ball in the opponents box.  In spite of this, things are still looking pretty rosy for Conte’s Inter so far, and continue to improve as the season progresses.

Inter’s opponents, Sampdoria, are in a far from ideal situation right now. The results have not been great, 1 win and 4 losses, scored 3 (average 0.6) conceded 11 (average 2.2) and xG average of 1.2 and an xG against of 1.46. It seems Samp’s defense is as solid as a wet paper bag at the moment and to make matters worse, they are struggling to score as well.

Their last match saw them come out with a 2-1 defeat to Fiorentina. The Viola definitely had the better of them that match with the majority of possession (54%), an xG of 2.16, 18 shots on goal compared to Samp’s 8, only 2 of which were on target. It seems that di Francesco is in a really bad place at the moment, he cannot find a formation that works, he is struggling to decide whether to go with a back 3 or a back 4 and he is lacking the means in which to motivate and get the best out of his players.

Defense

Defensively, Inter have been pretty much perfect so far, only 1 goal conceded in 5 matches is definitely nothing to be sniffed at. Conte seems fixed on who plays in the regular back 3, with the strongest pairing seemingly Godin-de Vrij-Skriniar.

Although expect to see D’Ambrosio step in for Godin on the right hand side from time to time, and perhaps even Bastoni on the left hand side. Inter’s defense seemed to be well drilled and never out of position. It is this attention to detail that is making it so difficult for opponents to score, and if they do manage to find a way past the back 3, they then have to find a way past Handanovic who seems to be having his best season in an Inter shirt so far!

Sampdoria’s defense leaves a lot to be desired this year, having sold Andersen, they never really replaced him.  Murru is not performing at an acceptable standard at all and Jeison Murillo (former Inter CB) just isn’t good enough.

Couple these issues with Eusebio di Francesco and things are looking bleak. Samp started the season with a back four and a holding midfielder, that didn’t work as they lost both matches conceding 7 goals in the process. They then switch to a back 3 which provided a little bit more security, but not enough that it can be deemed as a successful change.  Of the 3 games played with a back 3, Samp have won 1 and lost 2, and conceded 4 goals.

Summary

With all of that said and done, it’s honestly really difficult to see past an Inter win in this fixture, even if they heavily rotate. Samp have the advantage of playing at home, where the atmosphere can be electric and they need every fan in that place to get behind their team and urge them on if they are to get anything from this match. Should Inter win, it would take them level with Liverpool with the best starts to season in all of Europe’s top 5 leagues.

Key players

Nicolo Barella put in a very positive performance against Lazio on Wednesday, and we should expect him to continue on this path and put in another strong performance this weekend also, as every time he has stepped on the pitch this season, he has gotten better and better.

Barella is a classic box to box midfielder who runs a lot and gets stuck into tackles and he has settled into this role for Inter seamlessly, the only thing for him to do now is start pitching in with a goal now and the, and I strongly suspect he will get a chance or two in this match.

An interesting player to watch out for with Sampdoria is Federico Bonazzoli.  A former Inter player, he came through the youth ranks and left to join Sampdoria in 2015. He looks to have broken into the first team squad for good this year and he could play an important role for his sides survival.

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