Red-hot Sampdoria effectively revived their Champions League hopes with an impressive triumph over Roma and they are now hoping to pile more misery on out-of-sorts Inter Milan. The Nerazzurri crashed out of Europa League on the back of another defeat to Wolfsburg and they arrive at Marassi looking for the first win in six games.

Mature performances from Samp

After enjoying mixed success with Serbian national team, Sinisa Mihajlovic has done brilliantly to prove his coaching credentials at Marassi. The former Blucerchiati defender quickly transformed the team from relegation strugglers to Champions League hopefuls and the dream is still alive with some 11 games to go. Sampdoria did suffer a small dip in form at the turn of the year, but the arrival of Samuel Eto’o and Luis Muriel helped the team turn things around and revive their bid for European positions. The Blucerchiati have been thoroughly impressive of late, defeating Atalanta, Cagliari and AS Roma in their last three fixtures, with the 2-0 triumph at Stadio Olimpico one of the highlights of the current campaign. And while the players are obviously brimming with confidence at the moment, Sinisa Mihajlovic will make sure they do not become complacent and produce another quality performance against struggling Inter Milan. With all key players available for the visit of Nerazzurri, I certainly wouldn’t bet against Sampdoria claiming another major scalp.

Important midfielder Afriyie Acquah is back from suspension, while Luis Muriel is tipped to start. Ezequiel Munoz, Fabrizio Cacciatore and Alessandro De Vittis are out injured.

One step forward, two steps back

The phrase nicely sums up Inter’s season as it appears that whatever they do, the Nerazzurri cannot move from square one. The fans were excited after the arrival of Roberto Mancini was followed by several quality signings, but their expectations quickly dampened as the new boss was unable to create any form of team spirit at Stadio Giuseppe Meazza. With Inter still not playing as a team, nobody has been surprised by some disappointing results and performances of late, and it is now clear that European football will not be played at Meazza next season. The Nerazzurri were eliminated of Europa League having lost both legs to Wolfsburg, while their top 6 bid in Italian Serie A appears to be effectively over. Having taken just two points from last three league fixtures, Inter sit huge eight points behind sixth-placed Sampdoria, and while a win at Marassi would revive their European hopes, I don’t see how they are going to achieve it. The players are completely out of confidence after yet another difficult defeat and having played on Thursday, tired legs could prove to be additional problem.

Xherdan Shaqiri is doubtful with a hamstring problem, while Jonathan, Yuto Nagatomo, Dodo and Zdravko Kuzmanovic are definitely out.

Verdict

With Eto’o, Acquah and Muriel making instant impact at Marassi, Sampdoria have notched three wins in a row and they have a perfect opportunity to make it four on the bounce against Inter. The Nerazzurri are going through a very difficult patch at the moment and I seriously doubt they can end a five-match winless run.

Top pick: Sampdoria Draw no bet   1.95 (19/20) @ Sportingbet

Alternative pick 1: Under 2.5 goals   1.75 (3/4) @ BetVictor

Alternative pick 2: Home win   2.80 (9/5) @ Betfred