FC Internazionale - Salernitana predictions and free betting tips [16/02/2024]

On Friday, 16th February, as part of the 25th round of the Italian Serie A, Inter will host Salernitana on their home field. The hosts will aim to extend their advantage over trailing Juventus, while Salernitana, rooted at the bottom of the league table, is in urgent need to accumulate points. 

Projected Lineups

Inter: Sommer; Pavard, De Vrij, Bastoni; Dumfries, Barella, Calhanoglu, Mkhitaryan, Augusto; Martinez, Arnautovic.
Salernitana: Ochoa; Pierozzi, Boatang, Bronn; Zanoli, Maggiore, Basic, Pellegrino; Candreva, Kastanos; Dia. 

Stadium

The duel will take place in Milan at the Giuseppe Meazza Stadium.

Inter

Leading the Serie A league table with one game in hand and seven points clear of second-placed Juventus, Inter has all the prospects to clinch another Scudetto this season. Since the end of September, the Lombardy team has suffered just one loss in the national championship, and in 2024, the Nerazzurri won all five of their last matches. Thus, Simone Inzaghi's team secured brilliant victories over Juventus (1:0) and Roma (2:4) last weekend. In January, Inter also lifted the Italian Super Cup— Lautaro Martínez, Francesco Acerbi, Marcus Thuram, and Alessandro Bastoni made the scoresheet.

The hosts perform excellently at home in the current campaign: they've accumulated 28 points in 11 rounds, netted 26 goals and conceded only 6 (best performance in the league, on par with the Bianconeri). Coming up on Tuesday, Simone Inzaghi's side will host Atlético Madrid in the first ⅛ final of the Champions League, so the coaching staff may opt for squad rotation. 

Salernitana

Salernitana is frankly failing their current campaign, sitting last in the overall Serie A tally with a mere 13 points in 24 rounds. Avoiding relegation (one more match played and 7 points behind the safe zone) seems extremely challenging. The team haven't won any of their last 6 matches in the national championship (1 draw and 5 losses): following a draw with Torino (0:0), a week ago the "ponies" lost to crisis-ridden Empoli at their home ground (1:3) - two late goals from M'Baye Niang and Matteo Cancellieri made all the difference.

As a result, Filippo Inzaghi replaced Fabio Liverani at the helm, becoming Salernitana's third manager of the season, however, serious transformations are so far very hard to believe in. It goes without saying that the Maroons don't present well while playing away: in 11 matches, they garnered 6 points, scored 7 goals and conceded 20.

Head-to-head Encounters

In the first round, Inter crushed the opponent on the road - 0:4. All three previous faceoffs between these teams at the San Siro also ended in victories for the Milanese.  

Inter vs Salernitana Match Forecast

Without question, Inter outperforms its rival in terms of skill - however, the Nerazzurri's motivation to thrash the underdog raises severe doubts. Inzaghi is bound to resort to rotating the squad ahead of the Champions League clash, and the league situation allows the Milanese to feel comfortable even in case of a slip-up. The visitors, on the contrary, must fight for every point - otherwise, they'll run out of survival chances long before the championship ends. I reckon the Nerazzurri will score a couple of goals and then slow down - I'm betting on the underdog’s handicap 2.5. 

Total Forecast

Again, I don't anticipate a flurry of goals from Inter, and Salernitana will visit Milan as the underdog and will seek to keep their goal safe at all costs. I'm betting on the home side's individual total under 3 goals.

Corner Forecast

Inter is undoubtedly going to take control of the ball from the opening minutes and will rule over the course of the entire match - the hosts should deliver at least seven corners.                                         

Yellow Cards Forecast

Salernitana is significantly inferior to the adversary in skill and will be forced to foul a lot - I'm betting on the visitors' victory in terms of yellow cards.                     

Score Forecast

I'm placing my bet on the exact score of 2:0 in favour of Inter.