MILAN – Inter host Palermo at the Meazza at 20:45 CET tonight for the 56th league match between these two sides.
Together with Opta, we've put together this stat pack to help you brush up ahead of kick-off.
HEAD TO HEADS
The 55 previous Serie A meetings between Inter and Palermo have yielded 28 Nerazzurri wins, 21 draws and just six Palermo victories.
Inter have drawn a blank on just one occasion in their last 14 top-flight encounters with Palermo.
Palermo managed to put ten goals past Inter between January 2011 and February 2012 but have only managed three in the last five meetings.
The most frequent scoreline between these teams is 1-1, which has come up 13 times. The reverse fixture earlier this season also finished 1-1.
PREVIOUS ENCOUNTERS IN MILAN
The Nerazzurri have won four of the last five matches when Palermo have visited the Stadio Meazza and have never lost to the Sicilians at home in Serie A (W19, D8).
Inter have scored in each of their last 12 league games at home to Palermo, racking up 31 goals in total for an average of 2.6 per match.
The Meazza has witnessed two eight-goal thrillers when Palermo have visited in recent years. The Nerazzurri triumphed 5-3 on 29 October 2009 while the spoils were shared on 1 February 2012 (4-4).
FORM BOOK
Roberto Mancini's men come into this fixture after winning their last two home games. They have kept eight clean sheets at San Siro in Serie A this season.
Palermo are winless in their last six league outings and have conceded 13 goals in that spell (2.2 per game).
The Sicilian outfit have picked up just one win (0-1 at Verona) and three draws on the road in their last nine attempts, failing to score in five of those.
GENERAL STATS
Depsite affording opponents 339 shots (an average of 13 per game, only the ninth best record in Serie A this term), Inter boast the third-best defence (25 conceded, behind Napoli on 22 and Juventus on 15).
Frosinone (53) are the only side to have let in more goals than Palermo (47) and the only team to have allowed more shots on goal this year (568 versus Palermo's 460).
Only Carpi (23) and Sampdoria (22) have conceded more goals in the first half than Palermo (21). Only Frosinone (33) have conceded more in the second half (Palermo 26).
Palermo have notched the joint highest number of goals from headers in Serie A (nine, level with Verona). The Sicilians are the only top-flight side to have scored more often from headers than right-footed shots (eight – the lowest figure in the league).
The Rosanero have also scored the joint highest number of own goals: three, the same as Roma and Genoa.
Inter and Palermo, with five goals each, are tied joint second for goals scored from corners this season, behind AC Milan (seven).
Palermo remain the only Serie A team yet to be a awarded a penalty in 2015/16.
The Nerazzurri have never lost from a winning position at home this season (W8, D1), while the Rosanero have never won from a losing position on their travels (D1, L7).
Inter are one of five Serie A sides who have never turned a losing scoreline into a victory this season. On the ten occasions when they have found themselves chasing the game, they have gone on to draw three and lose seven.
PLAYERS IN THE SPOTLIGHT
Three Inter players have bagged themselves a brace against Palermo before today: Stevan Jovetic (3-0 with Fiorentina in December 2012; three goals in total against the Sicilians), Rodrigo Palacio (on 22 January 2012 as a Genoa player) and Mauro Icardi (8 February 2015, the last time Palermo visited San Siro).
Among the strikers who have scored at least five goals this season, Mauro Icardi is the one who touches the ball the least (once every three minutes). Maurito does however provide a very clinical edge, scoring with every 53rd touch. Only Higuain (43) and Pavoletti (49) boast better records.
Eder has found the net against Palermo on two occasions, one being his very first Serie A goal (at Brescia on 12 September 2010).
The two Serie A players who have lost the ball most often this season are both at Palermo: Franco Vazquez (567) and Achraf Lazaar (532).
However, Lazaar is also the Serie A defender with the second most crosses in 2015/16 (120), behind Sassuolo's Vrsaljko (150).
Samir Handanovic has the second-highest save percentage in Serie A, keeping out 78% of goalbound efforts. AC Milan's Gigio Donnarumma has managed 79%.
Jeison Murillo's first and so far only sending-off in Serie A came against Palermo in the reverse fixture.
COACHES
Roberto Mancini and Giuseppe Iachini face off in Serie A for the third time today. Mancini has won one and drawn one (1-1 earlier this season).
Mancini has taken on Palermo ten times as a coach, losing just once (five wins and four draws).
Iachini's record against Inter is perfectly balanced: one win, five draws and one defeat from seven matches.
REF AND DISCIPLINE
Inter have already had eight players sent off this season. Only Atalanta have received more red cards (12).
Carmine Russo is overseeing his 132nd Serie A match today, his 13th in 2015/16.
Inter have won the last three times they have had Carmine Russo as referee in Serie A, including once this season (against Verona).
Russo officiated a 2-2 draw between Inter and Palermo in April 2009. That day he awarded Inter a penalty, which Zlatan Ibrahimovic duly converted.
Palermo have lost their last three games with Russo in Serie A, two of which have come this season (against Atalanta and AC Milan).
SUSPENDED
Inter: -
Palermo: -
ONE BOOKING AWAY FROM SUSPENSION
Inter: Kondogbia, Palacio, Telles
Palermo: Chochev, Goldaniga, Vázquez
