Fiorentina v Inter: full stat rundown

Simone Inzaghi’s Inter side are busy preparing for their Serie A Week 5 clash against Fiorentina on Tuesday, following the stunning six-goal demolition of Bologna on Saturday.

The Nerazzurri will travel to the Stadio Artemio Franchi in Florence for their first midweek league game of the season, with kick-off set for 20:45 CEST.

Check out our comprehensive stat pack on the game while you wait for kick-off!

PREVIOUS MEETINGS BETWEEN FIORENTINA AND INTER

Fiorentina and Inter have faced off a total of 166 times in Serie A, with the Nerazzurri enjoying the best of the fixture so far, with 68 wins, 54 draws and 44 defeats.

Goals are usually expected whenever the Nerazzurri do battle with the Viola, with an average of 2.83 goals scored every time they play. Take Fiorentina’s last home win over Inter, for example – the Viola ran out 5-4 winners in a crazy match in April 2017. The Nerazzurri have struggled at the Franchi in recent seasons, often having to settle for a draw, but Inter did get a 2-0 win there last season – after a run of three straight draws – courtesy of goals from Nicolo Barella and Ivan Perisic.

CURRENT FORM

Inter are on 10 points after four games in Serie A this season, with wins over Genoa, Verona and Bologna and a draw against Sampdoria. But Fiorentina have made a strong start too, recovering from the 3-1 defeat by Roma on the opening day to put together a run of three straight wins, over Torino, Atalanta and Genoa, to put them just behind Inter on nine points.

Inter have scored in every one of their last 23 matches in Serie A. If they find the net against Vincenzo Italiano’s Fiorentina side, they will equal their best-ever Serie A scoring streak (24 matches in the 1949/50 season, under the management of Giulio Cappelli). The Nerazzurri have scored at least two goals in each of their last nine Serie A games, a run they’ve only ever bettered twice (they scored at least two in 10 consecutive games in 2007 and made it to 11 in 1943).

Inzaghi’s Inter are the top-scoring team in Serie A this season, with 15 goals so far and an average of 3.8 goals per game. It’s only the second time in the three-point era that a team has scored so many goals in the first four games of the season, after Napoli also scored 15 times in the first four matches of the 2017/18 campaign.

The Nerazzurri have scored more headed goals than any other team in Serie A this season, with five, while Fiorentina are yet to concede a header so far this term.

Inter have conceded the fewest shots on target in the league so far, with just 10 – an average of just 2.5 per game.

PLAYER FOCUS

Three members of Fiorentina’s squad have past links with Inter. Cristiano Biraghi made 26 appearances and scored two goals for the Nerazzurri in the 2019/20 season, while Marco Benassi (six appearances) and Alfred Duncan (three appearances) both played for Inter in the 2012/13 campaign.

Meanwhile, Matias Vecino made 67 appearances and scored five goals for Fiorentina before joining Inter.

Nicola Barella has had a goal involvement in each of his four appearances this Serie A season, providing an assist in each of his first three games before scoring himself in the rout of Bologna. Zlatan Ibrahimovic was the last Inter player to have a goal involvement in each of the first five games of the season, with the Swede extending the run to seven matches in the 2007/08 season.

Hakan Calhanoglu has scored more goals against Fiorentina than any other team in Serie A, with four.

Ivan Perisic has scored four goals against Fiorentina in Serie A and has found the net in both his last two appearances at the Franchi in the league. Perisic has only scored more goals against Chievo Verona (seven).