Inter will want to put pressure on their adversaries though and a 3-1 victory over Cagliari last time out, which secured an eighth win from their past 12 league games, means they have a solid foundation to do just that.
Inter
The Serie A title race goes down to the wire as Inter Milan host Sampdoria on the final day, knowing that if AC Milan avoid defeat they’ll agonisingly miss out on the Scudetto and see their city rivals equal their tally of 19 league titles! Inter will want to put pressure on their adversaries though and a 3-1 victory over Cagliari last time out, which secured an eighth win from their last 12 league games, means they have a solid foundation to do just that. Opta’s Stats Perform prediction model may give Inter just a 19 per cent chance of snatching the title, but they won their first Coppa Italia since 2010/11 last week after dispatching Juventus 4-2, and they’ll be determined in their search for more glory on Sunday.
However, if they fail in their quest, manager Simone Inzaghi may look towards a lacklustre period in which Inter took just nine points from seven league games at the turn of the year as the decisive factor.
Sampdoria
Inter fans could be forgiven for being confident here though, as Sampdoria have little riding on this game, although the same was true last time out and that didn’t stop them from putting a significant dent in Fiorentina’s UEFA Europa League qualification hopes with a blitzing 4-1 victory at the Luigi Ferraris. However, Sampdoria have only avoided defeat in a league-low 29.63 per cent of games in which they started as an outsider. To make matters worse, they’ve lost to Inter in four consecutive encounters here, conceding 12 goals in the process, with the visitors having won only once at the San Siro (against Inter) since 1996!
Lautaro Martinez’s brace last time out saw him become only the sixth player in Inter’s history to score 20 goals in a single league campaign before the age of 25. Meanwhile, Francesco Caputo has three goal contributions in his last five outings and will look to put a sting in the title tale. No side has recorded more HT/FT league defeats than Sampdoria’s 16 this season.