Inter Milan will play host to Salernitana on Sunday in an effort to regain lost ground in Serie A following their heroics in Europe during the middle of the week.
After pushing Barcelona to the verge of Champions League elimination, the Nerazzurri are back at San Siro and now face opponents who, surprisingly, are only four spots below them in the standings.
Wednesday’s 3-3 draw between Inter and Group C rivals Barcelona at Camp Nou featured a chaotic classic second half in which the Milan team came just minutes away from snatching a historic victory.
Simone Inzaghi’s team scored goals through Nicolo Barella, Lautaro Martinez, and substitute Robin Gosens before Robert Lewandowski’s late equaliser prevented them from claiming their first victory over the Catalan club on the road.
Inzaghi needed a distraction from a terrible start to the Serie A season, and taking 4 points away from Barcelona puts Inter within striking range of the round of 16.
The Nerazzurri were sitting in seventh place after the initial 9 rounds, having just lost 3 of their previous 4 league games, despite defeating Sassuolo 2-1 last weekend despite a lacklustre performance.
No team in Serie A has given up more goals in the second half of games this season than those who frequently struggle to maintain early momentum; their alarming total of 10 is equal to the number of goals they gave up in the first 31 games of the previous campaign.
As the visitors to San Siro this week, Inter are under obligation to win all 3 of their games against Fiorentina, Sampdoria, and Salernitana since they are now 8 points behind league leaders Napoli and therefore cannot afford to fall farther and farther behind their Scudetto contenders before the action halts for the World Cup.
You do not need to be made aware of the superiority of Inter over Salernitana given that the latter team defeated the former 5-0 in both of their games played last season, when Salernitana seemed fated for Serie B until their remarkable late comeback.
However, despite their hosts’ struggles, the Granata have had a strong start to the 2022–23 campaign and are only five points back of their illustrious rivals.
Following two losses in a row in which they gave up a combined seven goals to Lecce and Sassuolo, they bounced back last week to defeat Verona 2-1 in thrilling fashion to record their second Serie A victory.
As Davide Nicola’s team defeated a struggling away team that later fired their coach, Boulaye Dia, a substitute striker, scored the game-winning goal at Stadio Arechi.
Salernitana now has a chance to win two straight Serie A games for the first time since April, but they are winless in their last six away games after recording five draws and a 5-0 defeat.
Despite the fact that Romelu Lukaku and Marcelo Brozovic are still out with thigh injuries, the latter is getting closer to returning, Inter can welcome back Joaquin Correa on Sunday. The Argentine striker is likely to sit on the bench.
Lautaro Martinez hopes to regain his scoring form in Serie A after breaking his goalless streak in his last five league games at Camp Nou. In two previous matches against Salernitana, he has netted four goals, along with a hat-trick at San Siro in March.
Edin Dzeko has been involved directly in four goals in two games against Salerno team while playing alongside him up front in Simone Inzaghi’s 3-5-2 formation.
Although there might not be any changes to the attack, Kristjan Asllani and Robin Gosens might be added to the midfield to give it some new energy, and Francesco Acerbi might start at the back.
Ivan Radovanovic is also out because of his late dismissal against Verona, while Matteo Lovato, Giulio Maggiore, and veteran winger Franck Ribery will not be present for the visitors.
The front-runners to succeed Radovanovic and Maggiore in midfield are Tonny Vilhena and Grigoris Kastanos, while Antonio Candreva, a former Inter player, is on the right wing. In 124 Serie A appearances for the Nerazzurri, the latter scored 12 goals and contributed 25 assists. However, he also scored six goals against them while playing for Sampdoria and Lazio.
Inter possible starting lineup:
Onana; Skriniar, Acerbi, Bastoni; Dumfries, Barella, Asllani, Calhanoglu, Gosens; Martinez, Edin Dzeko
Salernitana possible starting lineup:
Sepe; Gyomber, Daniliuc, Pirola; Candreva, Kastanos, Coulibaly, Vilhena, Bradaric; Boulaye Dia, Piatek
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