This week sees the first mid-week round of fixtures in the Italian Serie A. With all but Genoa and AC Milan playing five matches, the league table is beginning to take shape. It makes pleasant reading for Juventus fans but Inter Milan, one of the teams expecting to challenge them this season, have work to do.
On Tuesday night, Inter Milan welcome Fiorentina to the San Siro for the biggest game of the week in Italy. Both teams know they must win if they want to maintain any hope of winning Serie A this season.
Inter Milan start this game in 9th place, with 7 points from their five games. The season started with a disappointing 1-0 defeat at Sassuolo and was followed by an equally poor result with a 1-1 draw at home against Torino.
Things seemed to be improving thanks to a 3-0 victory at Bologna but Inter Milan could not build on that result and lost 1-0 at home to newly promoted Parma. However, a last gasp 2-1 home win against Tottenham Hotspur in the Champions League may have been the kick-start they required and Inter Milan defeated Sampdoria 1-0 away from home on the weekend.
Inter Milan’s home Serie A record is poor and trends show they have lost three and drawn four of their last five. On a positive note, Inter Milan have won ten of their last twelve home games against Fiorentina and both teams have scored in five of the last six.
Fiorentina picked up a comfortable 3 points on the weekend as they defeated SPAL 3-0 at home. That result means they start the week in 3rd place, with 10 points from their five matches this season.
Trends show Fiorentina have won three, drawn one and lost one of their five Serie A games. There have been wins over Chievo, Udinese and SPAL, with a draw coming at Sampdoria and defeat at Napoli.
Its clear where Fiorentina’s problems have been so far this season and that’s playing away from home. They have won 1 point from a possible 6 and while Fiorentina have only conceded 2 goals, they have managed just one goal away from home in two league games.
Trends show Fiorentina have won just one of their last five away Serie A matches and have failed to keep a clean sheet in any of them.
Team news and Inter Milan are likely to be without Sime Vrsaljko who continues to work his way back from a knee injury. Lautaro Martinez featured on the bench on the weekend so should be available to start if required.
Fiorentina will travel without the suspended Jordan Veretout. Every other player is available and Stefano Pioli has a fully fit squad from which to pick his starting XI.
Despite not having a good recent record at home in Serie A, Inter Milan seem to have the beating of Fiorentina, who have struggled on the road. Inter Milan’s form has shown signs of picking up and they should win this game, with both teams scoring.