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Serie A Preview: Inter v Sampdoria

The Nerazzurri look to make it back to back wins against the Blucerchiati ...

Giuseppe Bellini

The seat isn't as hot as previous weeks for Walter Mazzarri with the win against Cesena, but Sampdoria come to the San Siro in hopes of turning up the heat once again.

Ex-Inter player and coach, and current Sampdoria manager, Sinisa Mihajlović, will want to show that his team's form is not a fluke in the pan.  He also wants to show that he is a capable manager and that he should be in serious consideration for the Inter bench for the future.

With the Blucerchiati sitting higher than the Nerazzurri in the Serie A table, the visiting side sit only six points behind Juventus and are tied for third with Udinese.  Inter are four points behind them in eighth and need a win to keep within striking distance of the coveted Champions League spots.

THE VITALS

Date: Wednesday, October 29, 2014

Venue: Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, Milan, Italy

Time: 20.45 CET / 3.45 pm ET / 12.45 pm PT

BATTLE DOSSIER

Inter Probable Lineup (3-5-2): Handanovic; Ranocchia, Vidic, Juan Jesus; Obi, Hernanes, Medel, Kovacic, Dodo; Palacio, Icardi

Sampdoria Probable Lineup (4-3-3): Romero; De Silvestri, Gastadello, Romagnoli, Cacciatore; Soriano, Palombo, Obiang; Gabbiadini, Okaka, Eder

Unavailable For Duty: The list seems to be getting longer, as Yann M'Vila has now been added to the injury list alongside Yuto Nagatomo, Jonathan, Danilo D'Ambrosio, Dani Osvaldo, and Fredy Guarin.

Operation Baby Steps: After the win this past weekend, Inter need to keep taking things a game at a time to maximize the focus on each upcoming team for the full three points.  We need to start somewhere, right?

Fear Factor: 8: The Blucerchiati are ROLLING right now.  The Genovese side are tied for third right now, and just held Roma to a scoreless draw this past weekend. Mihajlović has instilled confidence and swagger in his squad, and while he declared his love for Inter, he will surely be looking for all three points.

Enemy Of The State: Manolo Gabbiadini is Sampdoria's top scorer this season, and I don't expect for him to let up in this midweek match.

Medal Of Honor: Hernanes gets the medal for this one, as he has been solid over the last few matches.  He set up the penalty that Rodrigo Palacio won this past weekend with a SUBLIME over the top pass, and the Brazilian has put his skills on display with his passing and scoring prowess.

Likely Outcome: Sampdoria is going to be tough, but I don't think Miha will be able to pull off all three points against his famiglia. I'm going to go with a draw in this one.