Empoli v Inter stat pack

Team

— Oct 27th 2021

5 MIN READING

Facts and figures ahead of Wednesday evening's kick-off

MILAN – On Wednesday at 20:45 CEST Inter face Empoli at the Castellani in Serie A Matchday 10. After having drawn against Juventus, Simone Inzaghi's men face an Empoli side who bounced back from defeats to Roma and Atalanta to beat Salernitana 4-2 last time out.

FORM BOOK

Inter go into Serie A Matchday 10 sitting on 18 points, achieved through five wins, three draws and one defeat. Their 24 goals make them the most prolific team in the division, but they have conceded 12 times so far this campaign.

Meanwhile Empoli have picked up 12 points so far, a total only bettered after nine games back in their 2005/06 and 2002/03 campaigns, when they picked up 13. Aurelio Andreazzoli's men have scored 14 times while conceding 18 so far this campaign, having not drawn a single game. They managed to beat Juventus, Cagliari, Bologna and Salernitana but lost their other five matches.

Out of these five defeats, four of them came at home. In total, Empoli have lost four out of their five home fixtures, conceding at least twice in every match at the Castellani. Never before in their time in Serie A have they lost five of their first six home matches and in general they have never conceded more than one goal in consecutive matches on home soil.

PREVIOUS MATCH-UPS

Inter haven't conceded in eight of their last 12 league matches against Empoli, letting in six in total, after having kept clean sheets in two of the previous 14 matches, conceding 15 goals along the way.

Empoli have lost all their last seven Serie A matches against Inter. In their time in Serie A only once have they lost more consecutive games to a team; eight times to Juventus between 2014 and 2019.

Empoli have only won three of their 26 Serie A matches against Inter, with the most recent triumph coming in April 2006. There's no team they've faced more than ten times in the top flight which they've beaten fewer times, and they haven't beaten the Nerazzurri in 12 Serie A games, drawing once and losing 11 times.

CASTELLANI SHOWDOWNS

Inter and Empoli have faced each other on 13 separate occasions in Tuscany, with the hosts picking up two wins and the visitors eight, the other three matches ending all-square.

Inter have kept a clean sheet in all of their last six away matches at Empoli, which is a record run for games without conceding against one particular opponent in Serie A. Only the records of Fiorentina against Catania set in 2009, Juventus against Foggia in 1991, Napoli against Roma in 1980, and Torino against Verona in 1979 better Inter's run, with the aforementioned racking up a tally of seven.

STATS

No team has scored more headers than Inter so far this season; the Nerazzurri are level with Genoa on seven. Meanwhile, Empoli are among three sides - the other two being Atalanta and Spezia - yet to score a single header so far this time out.

However, Andreazzoli's men have only conceded once through a headed goal, with only Napoli ahead of them in this regard; they are yet to concede once. This Inter side have scored the most second half goals out of any Serie A side this campaign, finding the net 14 times, while no team has scored fewer than Empoli's four.

PLAYER FOCUS

If Nicolo Barella plays he'll be making his centenary appearance in all competitions for Inter, while should Stefan de Vrij get a start it'll be his 100th for the Nerazzurri in Serie A.

Edin Dzeko has scored three times in his last two games against Empoli, after having not found the net in his previous two encounters with the club. The Bosnian forward is one of three Inter players to have scored seven goals in his first nine Serie A games for Inter in the era of three points for a win. The only others to equal his record are Ronaldo and Diego Milito, with the Brazilian also scoring in his tenth appearance.

Ivan Perisic was Inter's last goalscorer against Empoli. The Croatian winger has had a hand in three of Inter's last five away goals in Serie A, scoring twice and providing an assist. His track record against Wednesday's opponents is impressive, contributing to three goals in four games against Empoli in Serie A, a strike and two assists back in 2016.

It was against Empoli that Marcelo Brozovic hit his first Serie A goal, back in May 2015 with Inter triumphing 4-3, while Federico Dimarco made his Serie A bow in the very same game.

There are several current players who've represented both sides. Matias Vecino played 36 times for Empoli in 2014/15, while Federico Dimarco featured 12 times on loan for the Tuscans in 2016/17. On the other hand, Andrea Pinamonti made 11 Serie A appearances for Inter, in fact making his debut for the Nerazzurri against his current club in February 2017, even managing to find the net.

COACHES

SimoneInzaghi has come out on top on both occasions in which he has faced Aurelio Andreazzoli in Serie A: while Lazio boss he beat Andreazzoli's Empoli 1-0 and his Genoa side 4-0.

The only time Andreazzoli has faced Inter before was in May 2019 while boss of Empoli, a game which they lost 2-1 away.