Serie A preview and tips: Inter Milan looking to reignite season at Salernitana
Inter hammer Plzen October 2022
Tipstrr football pundit Sergiu Baltuta takes a look at the first game of an important weekend in Serie A, with Inter Milan looking to bounce back to form at improving Salernitana (Friday - 1600 BST)
Round 29 in Serie A will open with the game between Salernitana and Inter at Stadio Arechi on Friday night. The Milan giants managed a 5-0 win on their last trip to Salerno, Inter's only win in three encounters in South Italy, with the hosts winning the other two.
Paulo Sousa's Salernitana are unbeaten in their last five outings, with their last four ending in draws, but Friday's encounter seems unlikely to end all square as their seven previous meetings have all produced a result.
Salernitana have just a couple of wins to Inter's five, three of which were their most recent encounters during which the Nerazzuri have bagged 12 goals without reply.
The team from South Italy picked up four points from their last two home games, but their recent 3-0 win against newly promoted Monza is their only win at Arechi since October.
Salernitana look reasonably safe in 15th spot, nine points clear of the first relegation spot, but they do have the second-worst defence in Serie A , with their 48 goals conceded including least two goals in four of their last five home games played.
While Salernitana come into the game without serious relegation concerns, Inter desperately need a positive result in this game. The team led by Simone Inzaghi have lost four of their last five Serie A outings, including all the last three, and they have to find the back of the net in their last two games.
That slump has caused Inter to slide down into fourth place in the league table and the fight for Champions League qualification has become very complicated. Inzaghi will hope to avoid becoming the first Inter manager to lose four straight Serie A games, since Claudio Ranieri in 2012.
Inter have only one away win in 2023 in all competitions, and they were made to work hard for their 2-1 win at bottom-placed Cremonese. They are really struggling in attack, where a goals-scored average of 2.3 goals per game before Christmas has dwindled to a meagre one goal per game since the turn of the year.
Only Napoli (16.6) are averaging more shots per game than Inter (16.4) this season in Serie A, while Salernitana are second-worst with 10.3.
Inter's poor recent results has seen them dry up in front of goal, with two Romelu Lukaku penalties accounting for their only goals in the five-game winless run.
However, Lautaro Martinez has netted five times in three games against Salernitana, including a hat-trick in March last year, so he will be looking forward to adding to that tally on Friday night and spark Inter's season back to life.
