Now Napoli's nearest challengers in the Serie A standings, Inter Milan aim to take a greater grip on second spot in their latest league outing, as they tackle struggling Sampdoria on Monday.
The teams meet at Marassi with Inter having won their second Milan derby in short succession, while Samp suffered a heartbreaking twist in stoppage time to squander two precious points against Monza.
Match preview
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Not only clinching another success in the Derby della Madonnina but also securing his team's status as Serie A's 'best of the rest', Lautaro Martinez struck again last Sunday to earn Inter a 1-0 win over arch-rivals Milan.
Having also capped off the Nerazzurri's Supercoppa Italiana triumph over their old foes last month, the World Cup winner has now scored 12 goals in 21 top-flight fixtures this term - and each of Inter's last five in the league.
Heaping more misery on their Rossoneri rivals continued a bright start to 2023 for Simone Inzaghi's side, who have not only beaten Milan twice but also consigned league leaders Napoli to their only defeat of a sparkling Serie A campaign.
Inzaghi took time to address his side's glaring defensive deficiencies during the winter break, and Inter have now kept clean sheets in three of their six matches since the turn of the year - only one fewer than in their previous 15.
Also into the Coppa Italia semi-finals and with their Champions League return set for later this month, the Nerazzurri have plenty to look forward to in the coming weeks, even if hauling in Napoli to snatch the Scudetto is surely nothing more than a pipe-dream.
Though they have already lost four times on the road this season, while conceding goals at a rate of more than two per game, Inter have won nine of their last 11 Serie A meetings with Sampdoria before Monday night's encounter - winning 3-0 in both of their last two.
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Inter and Sampdoria have both won three of their last eight league clashes at Stadio Luigi Ferraris, and they drew the most recent one, but more recent form suggests the hosts have their work cut out to take even a point on this occasion.
The Blucerchiati sit second from bottom in the Serie A table and nine points adrift of safety, following a desperate - if all-too-predictable - conclusion to their game against Monza last Monday.
Having taken the lead twice through Manolo Gabbiadini relatively early in both halves, Samp failed to close out just their third league win of the season when Nicola Murru erred and their hosts struck from the spot deep into stoppage time.
That 2-2 draw at least put a halt to their four-game losing run, and if they can somehow hold Inter, the Ligurian side would go unbeaten in successive Serie A matches the first time since April of last year.
Head coach Dejan Stankovic - who played for Inter between 2004 and 2013 and was also a teammate of Inzaghi at Lazio - has been unable to orchestrate a revival since his appointment in the autumn, and his average of 0.62 points per game represents the lowest figure for a Sampdoria boss with more than 10 games managed since the 1990s.
Yet to win at home in Serie A under either Stankovic or predecessor Marco Giampaolo, Samp could be bound for Serie B come June if something does not change soon - but their fixture list hardly gets any easier, with in-form Bologna and then Lazio still to come before the end of February.
Team News
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Once again, Simone Inzaghi should have an almost full hand from which to choose on Monday, though a thigh problem for Joaquin Correa threatens the forward's place on the bench.
Starting up front instead, Correa's compatriot Lautaro Martinez will be aiming to become the first player to score six successive Inter goals since Alessandro Altobelli's seven-goal streak in 1983.
As Romelu Lukaku has now returned to full fitness, having suffered several injury setbacks over the course of the season, his famed 'Lu-La' partnership with Martinez could be brought back together at Marassi, allowing veteran striker Edin Dzeko a well-earned rest.
Francesco Acerbi has been involved in more Serie A goals against Sampdoria (six, including one in the reverse fixture) than any other side, and the Blucerchiati are also Stefan de Vrij's favourite opponent (four goals, also including one in October's clash at San Siro).
Samp, meanwhile, will be without the suspended Mehdi Leris, whose 10th league booking of the campaign came against Monza and was his fifth in succession. As a result, Napoli loanee Alessandro Zanoli may be drafted in on the hosts' right flank.
Both Ignacio Pussetto (knee) and Abdelhamid Sabiri (thigh) are set to be sidelined by injury again, but in-form forward Manolo Gabbiadini is ready and available.
The latter has scored three Serie A goals this year, after having a hand in just four through the whole of an injury-afflicted 2022; he joins January signing Sam Lammers up front.
Sampdoria possible starting lineup:
Audero; Amione, Nuytinck, Murru; Zanoli, Cuisance, Winks, Augello; Djuricic; Gabbiadini, Lammers
Inter Milan possible starting lineup:
Onana; Skriniar, Acerbi, Bastoni; Darmian, Barella, Brozovic, Calhanoglu, Dimarco; Martinez, Lukaku
We say: Sampdoria 1-3 Inter Milan
Inter are one of three teams to have drawn the fewest matches throughout Europe's top five leagues this season, alongside Bundesliga pair Borussia Dortmund and Bochum (both only one). Indeed, the Nerazzurri have tied only one of their last 30 in Serie A, so - with several key men back in the fold - they will go for the jugular in Genoa and consign Samp to another defeat.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Jonathan O'Shea
