Inter will still be feeling the effects of Saturday’s emotional Derby d’Italia defeat to Juventus when they visit Sampdoria in a mid-week match at the Stadio Comunale Luigi Ferraris.
Although Juan Jesus is back from suspension – which means coach Andrea Stramaccioni can return to his preferred three-man defence – Esteban Cambiasso is unavailable after being shown a red card for a nasty challenge on Sebastian Giovinco as time expired against the Bianconeri.
Striker Diego Milito is out for the rest of the season with a knee injury while midfielder Joel Obi, sidelined since February, revealed on Monday that he would be able to play later this month or early next following successful surgery on his quadriceps muscle.
On the other side of the ball Sampdoria forward Eder misses out through suspension and will be replaced by Gianluca Sansone.
Manager Dellio Rossi will also go into Wednesday’s match without a pair of full-backs as both Simon Poulsen and Andrea Costa are unavailable due to muscle problems.
- Inter have won just one of their last five Serie A matches and two of their last nine and have fallen to seventh in the standings.
- Rodrigo Palacio’s goal against Juventus last weekend took him to 10 in Serie A this season, putting him ahead of the injured Diego Milito for the team’s leading scorer.
- Sampdoria have drawn and lost their last two Serie A matches but come into Wednesday’s encounter with Inter having kept eight clean sheets in their last 10 outings.
- Coming into the 2012-13 Serie A season Sampdoria were handed a one-point deduction for their role in the 2011-12 corruption scandal.
- This will be the 131st meeting between Sampdoria and Inter, of which the Nerazzurri have won 71 and lost only 20. Sampdoria last beat Inter on this ground in September 2009.