MILAN - It’s the first match of 2018 for the Nerazzurri as they’re in action at 20:45 CET in Florence on Friday. Together with Opta, here are the figures for the match on the 20th matchday of Serie A TIM against Fiorentina
Head-to-Head
The match on 5th January will be the 160th meeting in Serie A between Fiorentina and Inter. The Nerazzurri have the upper hand with 65 wins compared to 44 for the Viola and 50 draws. Inter are the team who Fiorentina have scored the most goals against in the competition with the Tuscans finding the net 204 times against the Nerazzurri. The fixture has finished 1-1 22 times in Serie A (six times more than any other scoreline), however, the last time that result was seen was in November 2004.
Previous Meetings in Florence
In 79 previous meetings against Inter in Tuscany, Fiorentina are ahead 29 to 18 but a draw is the most common result with 32 at the Stadio Franchi.
Fiorentina have won all three of the last three home matches against Inter in Serie A, scoring two or more goals (10 overall).
From the last five matches at the Franchi between Fiorentina and Inter in the league, 23 goals have been scored with an average of 4.6 goals per match.
Form
After going 18 games unbeaten (14 wins and 4 draws), Inter have lost two out of the last three (one draw).
Inter haven’t scored in the last two league matches and February 2012 was the last time a goalless run in Serie A reached three matches.
Last season, Inter won all four of the matches played in January, scoring nine and conceding just two.
Fiorentina are unbeaten in the last seven matchdays but five of these have been draws, including the last two matches at the Stadio Franchi.
General Statistics
Four of the last five goals conceded by Fiorentina in the league have come from crosses from out wide. On the other side, Inter are the most prolific with crosses from the flanks (12 goals) and Antonio Candreva has provided the assist for half of these goals. Furthermore, the Viola are the team who have conceded the most from crosses (eight, like Chievo and Hellas Verona).
Inter and Fiorentina are the two teams with the most players who have started every game. The Nerazzurri have six (Handanovic, Skriniar, Borja Valero, Candreva, Perisic and Icardi) while the Tuscans have four (Sportiello, Astori, Veretout and Simeone).
Inter are the team who have scored the most headers in this Serie A season (seven, like Chievo) and only Lazio (one) have conceded fewer (one) than the Nerazzurri (two) from headers.
The Nerazzurri have scored 12 in the final 15 minutes of matches, a record in the 2017-18 Serie A season.
Inter are the only side along with Napoli not to have dropped points after going ahead (12 wins from 12). Fiorentina haven’t won any of the eight games in which they’ve gone behind (two draws, six defeats).
Player Focus
Borja Valero is the key former Fiorentina player after he represented the Viola 166 times between 2012 and 2017, scoring 14 goals and providing 38 assists.
Fiorentina are Mauro Icardi’s favourite team to play against in Serie A. He’s scored nine in eleven against the Viola, seven of them coming in the past three meetings (including a brace earlier this season). Icardi (two shy of 100 Serie A goals) hasn’t scored in his past two Serie A matches and he’s yet to go three consecutive matches without a goal.
Giovanni Simeone has scored six league goals, the last four have all been at the Stadio Franchi. 17 of his Serie A goals have come from moves inside the penalty area and the other was a penalty kick.
Inter and Udinese are Khouma Babacar’s favourite opponent in Serie A. He’s scored four goals in six matches (inlcuding one of his three top flight hat-tricks. Cyril Théréau has scored twice in Serie A against Inter (both for Udinese) although both came away against the Nerazzurri.
In the last two league matches against Fiorentina, Ivan Perisic has scored
In the two most recent league matches against Fiorentina, Ivan Perisic has scored and provided an assist (for Mauro Icardi), he hadn’t been involved in any goals in the three matches prior in Serie A against the Viola.
Another former player is Marco Benassi. His first six Serie A appearances came for Inter in the 2012-13 season. Cristiano Biraghi also came from the Nerazzurri’s youth system, he played twice for Inter in the 2010-11 with both appearances coming in the Champions League. Biraghi is also the player who has attempted the most shots this season (14) without hitting the target.
Coaches
Luciano Spalletti has won all five of his Serie A meetings against Stefano Pioli. In these matches, the current Nerazzurri Coach’s teams scored 17 and conceded only two.
Stefano Pioli has lost five of his last eleven meetings against Inter in Serie A with four wins and two draws making up the rest of the tally.
It will also be Spalletti’s 20th match against Fiorentina as a Coach. He’s won nine, lost three and drawn seven with the last coming in September 2007 in Fiorentina 2-2 Roma.
Pioli led Inter for 23 Serie A matches last season. With the Nerazzurri, he had a average points return of 1.7 per game and a win rate of 52 per cent.
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