Preview: Lecce vs. Inter Milan - prediction, team news, lineups

Upon their return to the top flight, Lecce face a stern test of their Serie A credentials, as they welcome Inter Milan to Stadio Via del Mare on Saturday.

Last season's Serie B champions will entertain a Nerazzurri side intent on reclaiming the Scudetto in the 2022-23 campaign, after finishing runners-up to Milan in May.

Match preview

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Although it was a story of so near but so far in the defence of their title last term, Inter still enjoyed a fruitful season following the departure of coach Antonio Conte and some key players from the Scudetto-winning side.

While Simone Inzaghi's squad lost control of the Serie A summit in February and ultimately ceded the title to city rivals Milan, the former Lazio manager's first season brought triumphs in both the Supercoppa Italiana and the Coppa Italia - on each occasion getting the better of bitter foes Juventus to lift the trophy.

Over the summer, Inter moved quickly to bring Romelu Lukaku back to the club, following the failure of his time at Chelsea, and the Belgian striker now rekindles a potent partnership with Lautaro Martinez. So far, too, defensive mainstay Milan Skriniar has been retained despite strong interest from Paris Saint-Germain.

Inzaghi's quiet revolution seems set to gather pace, but Inter's pre-season form has been inconsistent before the competitive action begins this weekend.

Finishing with a loss to La Liga outfit Villarreal, the Nerazzurri won only once from five warm-up games; conceding 10 times in the process.

Nevertheless, Inter have won each of their last three opening-round fixtures in Serie A, and are unbeaten in 11 against newly-promoted sides - including in August 2019, when they beat Lecce 4-0 in Conte's first game in charge.

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By contrast with their illustrious visitors, Lecce are currently the club to have played the most matches on the opening day without posting a single win: 16 in all, while losing each of their last five.

The southern side are back in the big time after winning a highly-competitive title race in Serie B, which earned them promotion to Italy's top tier for the 10th time in their history.

After the Giallorossi suffered relegation on the final of day of the 2019-20 campaign by losing at home to Parma, at the second attempt they have returned to the promised land.

Led by experienced coach Marco Baroni, whose only previous spell in Serie A was a brief one - lasting just a few months with Carpi in 2017 - Lecce are undoubtedly among the favourites for relegation, despite a reputation for playing entertaining football.

The portents are not good for the side from Puglia - on the 'heel' of the Italian peninsula's boot - as they ended their pre-season programme with a defeat to Parma before crashing out of the Coppa Italia to Cittadella last weekend.

Lecce, though, have a small slice of history on their side when they welcome one of Calcio's heavyweights to Via del Mare on Saturday evening, as they have gone unbeaten in their last three home meetings with Inter - against no other side do the Nerazzurri have a longer winless away run in Serie A.

Team News

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Simone Inzaghi has been gradually reshaping his Inter squad over the summer break, bringing in established stars such as Romelu Lukaku and Henrikh Mkhitaryan, plus some younger blood - Kristjan Asllani, Raoul Bellanova and goalkeeper Andre Onana.

While the latter, who arrived from Ajax on a free transfer, is already 26, he provides much-needed competition for captain Samir Handanovic, now 38. The Slovenian stopper is set to retain his place for Saturday's opener at least.

Ivan Perisic, Arturo Vidal and Alexis Sanchez are among those to have departed, and Perisic's switch to Spurs should see Robin Gosens line up on the left flank of the visitors' 3-5-2 formation, though Federico Dimarco is another alternative.

Up front, Lautaro Martinez will be joined by Lukaku, who scored his first Serie A goals against Lecce on his debut in August 2019. The former Manchester United striker still owns the league's best goals-per-minute ratio of current players - netting on average every 125 minutes, better even than Ciro Immobile (127) and Zlatan Ibrahimovic (140).

Meanwhile, Lecce have lost their main marksman Massimo Coda to Genoa during the transfer window, and Serie B's top scorer of the last two seasons should be replaced by Federico Di Francesco in the hosts' forward line.

The latter was one of several signings over recent weeks, including another forward option in Lorenzo Colombo - on loan from Milan - and Sampdoria pair Kristoffer Askildsen and Wladimiro Falcone.

Falcone replaces previous first-choice goalkeeper Gabriel, but the shape of the side in front of him remains to be seen, as Marco Baroni may decide to adapt his preferred 4-3-3 setup to tackle one of Italy's giants.

Lecce possible starting lineup:

Falcone; Gendrey, Blin, Dermaku, Gallo; Bistrovic, Hjulmand, Askildsen; Ceesay, Strefezza; Di Francesco

Inter Milan possible starting lineup:

Handanovic; Skriniar, De Vrij, Bastoni; Dumfries, Barella, Brozovic, Calhanoglu, Gosens; Martinez, Lukaku

We say: Lecce 1-3 Inter Milan

Inter were clearly in good shape going forward during pre-season, but also showed signs of defensive vulnerability, so victory at Via del Mare should not be taken for granted.

Though they may not keep a clean sheet, the Nerazzurri will still win on the opening night of their 2022-23 season, thanks to their abundant resources in the final third.

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