Match Today: Inter Milan vs Sampdoria 29-10-2022 Serie A

After securing a place in the Champions League round of 16, Inter Milan returned to the First Division on Saturday evening, as they seek to make up for what they lost by defeating struggling Sampdoria.

While Inter claimed their fifth win from six games in the middle of the week, Samp canceled out their first league win of the season over Cremonese, and former Nerazzurri star Dejan Stankovic is now returning to the San Siro in pursuit of a big upset.

Having previously earned four points from Barcelona in Champions League Group C, Inter reached the knockout stage for the second year in a row by defeating Viktoria Plzen goalless on Wednesday.

Henrikh Mkhitaryan opened the scoring at the San Siro, having scored the winning goal last weekend in an impressive 4-3 win over Fiorentina, and Edin Dzeko's double was followed by a goal on the return of Romelu Lukaku, who emerged from the bench after several weeks on the sidelines with a thigh injury.

A recent resurgence has seen Inter win five wins and a draw since being defeated by Roma at the start of the month, as they tried to recover from a slow start to the season that left them outside Italy's top six.

After the victories over Sassuolo and Salernitana, Simone Inzaghi's men also took the lead in a thrilling match at the Artemio Franchi Stadium last Saturday, when they beat their hosts with the three points - after Luka Jovic tied for Fiorentina in the 90th minute, Mkhitaryan managed to snatch victory in the fifth minute of time. lost count.

Nicolo Parilla's early goal in Florence means the Nerazzurri have scored the most goals of any Serie A team in the first 15 minutes of play this season (six), while Saturday's opponents conceded more than (five) during this crucial period.

Not only does this bode well for Inzaghi's hopes of prolonging Inter's positive momentum, but the Milan giants are undefeated in nine of their last 10 league meetings with Sampdoria; Win eight times in the process.

Indeed, they have won each of the last five club encounters at the San Siro with just one win in their last 20 league trips to face Inter in the second city, Sampdoria surely faces a precedent as is when they arrive in Lombardy this weekend.

Should Sampdoria eventually move away from the relegation zone, Cole's goal in Cremona - as well as a cup scramble thanks to Francesco Caputo's 118th minute goal and a dramatic 9-8 penalty shootout win - could be the catalyst for a rebound under Stankovic, following Marco Giampaolo's rule at Marassi.

One of the men unaccustomed to enjoying success at the San Siro, though, is new Sampdoria coach Dejan Stankovic, who played a role in the Nerazzurri's memorable triple victory in 2010.

The former Serbia midfielder appears to have had an effect on his frustrated players, as they bounced back from defeat to Roma to advance on penalties in the Coppa Italia, before scoring their first Serie A success of the season on Monday.

Although they had to put up with a lot of pressure outside of a winless Cremonese side, Sampdoria secured a 1-0 victory thanks to Omar Colley's 78th minute goal and now aim to win back-to-back league games for the first time since last November.

Before his side meet Fiorentina in the Copa Cup Round of 16 early next year, the former Red Star Belgrade boss will aim to lift him from 18th place in the standings, where they are currently based, and overhauling his form down the road could be an important step in that regard - Samp won two games. Only from his last 16 away games - but his continued progress on Saturday is a very high demand.