MILAN – San Siro is set for a huge game today as Inter and Napoli face off in the weekend's Saturday evening kick-off.
In collaboration with Opta, here are all the stats on the fixture.
HEAD-TO-HEAD
Napoli and Inter have crossed paths 139 times in Serie A history. The Nerazzurri are in the lead with 62 victories to 43. Napoli have only lost to Juventus on more occasions (64).
However, Napoli haven't tasted defeat in their last six league games against Inter, picking up three wins and three draws. In fact, Inter have won only once in their last ten meetings with Napoli, compared to five victories for the Azzurri.
In the reverse fixture earlier on this season, Napoli recorded their quickest goal of the season and Inter conceded their earliest: Gonzalo Higuain after just 64 seconds.
Both teams have managed to hit the back of the net in six of the last seven encounters between the two. The odd one out is the goalless draw from April 2014.
RECORD IN MILAN
Inter have been on the losing end just once in the last 12 times they've hosted Napoli, winning nine times and drawing twice.
The Nerazzurri average 2.2 goals per game across the same stretch, yet have kept a clean sheet in only three matches.
FORM GUIDE
After four back-to-back wins at home, Inter suffered defeat in their last game at San Siro against Torino. Roberto Mancini's men have blocked out the opposition just once in eight attempts at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza.
The Nerazzurri have found themselves on the scoresheet for five games running, although they've failed to score more than one in their last three.
Inter picked up a clean sheet for the first time in eight encounters last weekend. Nevertheless, the Nerazzurri with 14 are second only to Juventus (18) in terms of total shutouts this season.
After bagging four consecutive wins on the road, Napoli have registered a win just once in their last four away matches: one draw and two losses complete the picture.
Overall, Napoli have notched four wins in five league games, although the damaging 3-1 away loss to Udinese sticks out in the middle.
GENERAL STATS
Tonight pits Napoli, who have the second-best defence in Serie A with 27 goals conceded, against the third-best backline in Inter with 30.
Napoli boast the second-best attack in the league, trailing Roma by one on 66 goals. Inter come in at sixth in this ranking with 42 goals scored, just one above the league average.
Maurizio Sarri's outfit have scored the most goals in first halves this season (30). They're the second most prolific after half-time with 36, two fewer than Roma.
Inter have the second-best first-half defence in 2015/16, only having let in ten goals before the interval (Juventus lead the way with eight). Napoli, on the other hand, are the joint-meanest when it comes to the last fifteen minutes of play with three goals conceded, level with Empoli.
The Nerazzurri are in second place when it comes to scoring from corners: seven, just one behind city rivals AC Milan.
Napoli are actually second-last for goals let in from set pieces: eight, only two better than Fiorentina.
This season Napoli have had 551 attempts on goal, 52 more than any other Serie A team. The Azzurri are fourth in this ranking across the five major European leagues behind Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Tottenham.
Napoli are the best in the league for successful completed passes per game (655) and are second behind Fiorentina for pass accuracy (85.5%). However, the Azzurri are propping up the rest of Serie A for completed crosses (17%).
PLAYER FOCUS
Mauro Icardi has scored 50 goals in 100 outings for Inter in all competitions. Among strikers who have hit double figures this season, he has the highest conversion rate: 14 strikes from 43 shots – excluding blocked efforts – for 32.6%. The Inter skipper scored the goal to make it 2-2 between Napoli and Inter in the second half of last season. He's failed to find the net on the other six times he's faced the Neapolitans (four while playing for Inter).
Manolo Gabbiadini has come across Inter seven times and is yet to score, his longest ongoing dry-spell against Italian clubs. Gabbiadini has scored eight goals and supplied three assists in his last 11 games as a starter for Napoli in all competitions.
Gonzalo Higuain has been ruled out of tonight's game through suspension. He's scored four times in five games against Inter, including a double that kept the three points in Naples earlier on this season. Napoli have never lost against the Nerazzurri with Higuain on the pitch: two wins and three draws.
Napoli have four of the five best passers in Serie A for total number of passes: Jorginho, Marek Hamsik, Raul Albiol and Kalidou Koulibaly.
Lorenzo Insigne is having a record-breaking season both in terms of goals (12 beating his previous best of five) and assists (three better than seven in 2012/13). He's the only player in Serie A to have hit double figures in both categories. The Neapolitan wizard is second for number of shots with 118 – behind Higuain's 166 – and he's also struck the woodwork four times, one fewer than Roma's Mohamed Salah.
Ivan Perisic has been involved in five of Inter's last eight goals: three goals and two assists.
Napoli are one of Eder's favourite teams to score against, jointly with Udinese. The Brazil-born Italy striker has five goals in 11 outings against the Azzurri, including his last strike in Serie A on 24 January with Sampdoria and his last double on 30 August, also with the Blucerchiati.
Stevan Jovetic has scored twice in his career against Napoli. In particular, the Montenegrin starred in Fiorentina's 3-1 win against Napoli on 13 March 2010, contributing with a goal and two assists.
Jose Callejon has scored three times against the Nerazzurri, two of which came at San Siro and coincided with his first Serie A double in October 2014.
Marek Hamsik has two goals to his name in 15 league fixtures against Inter, the last of which came in March 2015. The Slovak's record is neatly balanced across his previous encounters with Inter: five wins, five draws and five losses. No other player in Serie A this season has created more opportunities for his team-mates with 76, seven of which turned into goals.
Rodrigo Palacio has scored three times against Napoli in Serie A, including a double in January 2012 when he was at Genoa.
COACHES
Roberto Mancini was undefeated against Maurizio Sarri when the latter was in charge of Empoli but lost against him in Napoli 2-1 Inter last November. As a result, it's two wins apiece plus one draw in the league for these two coaches. Mancini has won on only one occasion against Napoli in Serie A, registering a draw and three losses otherwise.
In case of a win, Sarri will have pocketed his 30th victory in Serie A. The former Empoli coach has one win, one loss and one draw from the three times he's faced the Nerazzurri.
REFEREE AND DISCIPLINE
Tonight will be Gianluca Rocchi's 196th time officiating a Serie A contest and his 16th this season. He's given 12 penalties this season, five more than anyone else. This is already a personal record in a single Serie A season, beating his 11 from last year.
Rocchi has shown a red card against a Nerazzurri player eight times in Serie A, only Lazio have suffered more expulsions from this ref.
Inter under Mancini have lost only once out of 12 games with Rocchi in the middle: six wins and five draws otherwise.
Rocchi has taken charge of this contest three times in the top flight: one victory for each side at San Siro and a draw at the Stadio San Paolo.
This evening brings together the two sides that have committed the least fouls in Serie A this campaign: Napoli on 383 and Inter on 431.
Nevertheless, Inter (ten) have seen red the second-most times behind Atalanta on 13.
SUSPENDED:
Inter: -
Napoli: Higuain (3).
ONE BOOKING AWAY FROM SUSPENION:
Inter: Handanovic, Kondogbia, Medel, Telles.
Napoli: Callejon, Grassi.
