Inter v Salernitana match pack

MILAN – Inter are ramping up preparations to face Salernitana at 20:45 CET on Friday 4 March. The Nerazzurri struck five goals in the reverse fixture on 17 December 2021, which saw the club bag over a century of goals in the calendar year (103 in 2021) for the first time, breaking the previous record of 99 in 1950.

2-1 WINS AT SAN SIRO 50 YEARS APART

Inter and Salernitana have never drawn in Serie A. The previous meetings show three wins for the Nerazzurri and two defeats. Inter emerged victorious 2-1 in both previous home clashes with Salernitana, which were played 50 years apart. The most recent one was on 29 November 1998 when Diego Simeone and Javier Zanetti turned it around for the hosts after David Di Michele had opened the scoring.

FIVE-GOAL HAUL IN REVERSE FIXTURE TO BREAK GOALSCORING RECORD IN 2021

The last meeting between the two sides was on 17 December 2021 when the Nerazzurri ran out 5-0 winners thanks to goals by Ivan Perisic, Denzel Dumfries, Alexis Sanchez, Lautaro Martinez and Roberto Gagliardini. The Croat became the first Inter player to score an away goal at Salernitana and it was Simone Inzaghi’s 200th match as a coach in which his team avoided defeat.

ATTACK AND DEFENCE MEET

Friday’s showdown pits the best attack in Serie A against the worst. The Nerazzurri lead the way with 55 goals scored, while Salernitana are bottom on 20. A similar contrast applies in terms of goals conceded. Inter have the second-best rearguard in the division (22), while the visitors have shipped the most goals (56). The hosts have been the most potent team in Serie A from headers (14 goals), while along with Spezia, Salernitana have bagged the fewest (just two).

GOALS AND STATS

Lautaro Martinez has been directly involved in ten goals in his last ten games against newly promoted sides (seven goals and three assists).

Since moving to Serie A in 2015/16, Edin Dzeko has netted 24 goals in 35 games against newly promoted teams. Only Ciro Immobile (36) has scored more in that time. Mattia Destro (five) is the only player to have converted more headers than the Bosnian (four) this term.

One of Dumfries’ three Serie A goals to date came against Salernitana in the reverse fixture. The Dutchman is yet to find the net in 2022.

Hakan Calhanoglu has provided the most assists from set-pieces (six) this season among players in the top five European leagues. The Turkish midfielder has racked up eight assists in Serie A, two of which came against Salernitana in December.

Milan Skriniar and Marcelo Brozovic (both 93%) are two of the three players with the highest pass-completion rate this season among those who’ve played a minimum of ten games. Only Napoli’s Stanislav Lobotka sits above them on 94%.

MATCH STATS

Inter are unbeaten in their last 21 meetings with newly promoted sides in Serie A (W18, D3). The previous loss was a 1-0 reversal away to Parma in September 2018.

The Nerazzurri have come out on top in nine of their last ten meetings with teams starting the day bottom of the pile, keeping clean sheets in seven of those games. The only blip was a 1-1 stalemate with Chievo in December 2018.

The fixture pits the team with the most home points (Inter on 29) against the side with the fewest away points (Salernitana on eight) against each other.

DISCIPLINARY DETAILS

SUSPENDED

Inter: N/A. Salernitana: N/A.

ONE BOOKING FROM SUSPENSION

Inter: Lautaro, Martinez, Vidal. Salernitana: Bonazzoli, Mazzocchi, Obi.