Inter Milan travels to Stadio Artemio Franchi on Saturday to take on a Fiorentina team that hasn’t moved after 10 Serie A rounds in an effort to continue their recent upswing.
Although Inter begin the weekend eight points off the lead, three victories in their last four games have reignited their domestic and European seasons. The Viola, in contrast, are in the bottom half of the standings and have only won twice in the league.
After defeating Champions League rivals Barcelona by four points and winning at Sassuolo in between back-to-back Group C games against the Catalan club, Inter was predicted to easily defeat Salernitana at home last weekend.
The Nerazzurri got off to a quick lead with Lautaro Martinez’s goal in the 14th minute, and they duly delivered three points when Nicolo Barella scored with precision after the break to seal the victory.
The fact that Simone Inzaghi’s team kept a clean sheet, which is all too uncommon in Serie A, gives the defence more confidence after conceding goals at a troubling rate in the first few weeks of the campaign.
They have been able to tighten up defensively, allowing just three shots on target in each of their last three league games, while Martinez is finally finding his rhythm after scoring at Camp Nou to snap an eight-match goal drought.
As they have won both of their most recent away games against Fiorentina, the visitors will have precedent on their side when they travel to Tuscany this weekend. They now seek to make it three straight wins at the Franchi for the first time in more than 40 years.
Curiously, Inter have gone 19 games without a draw, which is the longest active streak in Italy. Their last Serie A single-point victory came against the Viola at home in March. That is the team’s longest winning streak since the 1940s, and Inzaghi will not mind making it longer if it means winning and going back to Milan.
Fiorentina’s inability to win in any of the last 10 league meetings between the teams is a sign of how inferior they have been in this matchup over the past few seasons, and their recent play has left them eight points behind Inter in the standings.
The Viola were held to a 1-1 draw by struggling Lecce in their second consecutive Monday night match earlier this week. Christian Kouame scored the equaliser at Stadio Via del Mare shortly after the break to prevent a Viola comeback.
After 10 rounds, they are currently in 13th place in the table, having won just one of their previous nine Serie A games. Since beating Verona 2-0 at home in September, they have only scored five goals in the league while giving up twice as many.
Although Fiorentina recently recorded back-to-back victories over Hearts in the Europa Conference League, they are clearly struggling to duplicate their vivacious performances from the previous campaign and may therefore approach Inter with some trepidation.
Romelu Lukaku may travel with Inter to Florence even though Marcelo Brozovic is still out due to a recent thigh injury. The Belgian striker returned to full training earlier this week.
Simone Inzaghi must decide between Edin Dzeko and Joaquin Correa to partner Lautaro Martinez up front in his preferred 3-5-2 formation since Lukaku would at best be named on the substitutes’ list.
Only 3 midfielders in the top 5 European leagues have contributed more than 15 assists since the start of last season, and Nicolo Barella of the Nerazzurri is one of them, along with Sergej Milinkovic-Savic and Kevin De Bruyne.
In midfield, the Barella joins Hakan Calhanoglu, a Turkey international who has previously scored four Serie A goals against Fiorentina, three of which came at Stadio Franchi. Roberto Gagliardini, a teammate in the midfield who missed last week’s victory over Salernitana, ought to be back in shape.
Gaetano Castrovilli, a long-term absentee for Fiorentina, is still not available, but Sofyan Amrabat has returned from his suspension and Riccardo Sottil may play on Saturday.
Luka Jovic’s participation is questionable as he was forced to leave Monday’s game due to a hip injury; however, the Serbian striker has not scored in Serie A since his league debut in August. Therefore, Arthur Cabral will probably start at centre forward for the home team.
Fiorentina possible starting lineup:
Terracciano; Dodo, Milenkovic, Igor, Biraghi; Amrabat, Bonaventura; Gonzalez, Barak, Kouame; Arthur Cabral
Inter Milan possible starting lineup:
Onana; Skriniar, De Vrij, Bastoni; Dumfries, Barella, Calhanoglu, Mkhitaryan, Dimarco; Martinez, Edin Dzeko
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