Inter will go head to head with Fiorentina on Sunday 27 September at the San Siro (kick off 20:45 CET) in an early season top of the table clash.
Inter come into this game in great form and are currently enjoying their best start to a league campaign since the days of Helenio Herrera’s Grande Inter side in 1966/67 with five wins in a row.
This will be the first of three difficult looking fixtures on paper as Inter look to maintain their 100% winning record. The performances have been good in parts in the matches so far and the team have shown their character in hard fought wins but they will need to up their game if they are to keep their place at the top of Serie A against Fiorentina (home), Sampdoria (away) and champions Juventus (home).
Fiorentina are also in good form coming into this game with four wins against Milan (2-0), Genoa (1-0), Carpi (1-0) and Bologna (2-0) with their only loss coming against Torino (3-1) on matchday two.
This form sees Fiorentina sit in second place in the Serie A table, three points behind Inter. New coach and ex Inter midfielder Paulo Sousa has had a positive impact on the Viola despite a low profile transfer campaign. The team now play with a more direct style compared to the possession based style of former coach Vincenzo Montella and the team has improved defensively, which currently sees them with the second best defensive record in Serie A with 3 goals conceded behind Inter who have conceded just 1.
Here is the Inter team news and probable line up as reported by La Gazzetta dello Sport:
Samir Handanovic starts in goal with Davide Santon at right back. The central defensive partnership is expected to stay the same with Joao Miranda alongside Gary Medel. At left back Alex Telles should start with Juan Jesus only fit enough for the bench. Jeison Murillo misses the game with injury along with Danilo D’Ambrosio who was involved in a car accident.
The midfield three is expected to be the same with the impressive Felipe Melo alongside Geoffrey Kondogbia and the inconsistent Fredy Guarin.
Inter could also switch formation for this game to a 4-3-1-2 so the idea is that Ivan Perisic could play as a trequartista behind a front pairing of Stevan Jovetic and captain Mauro Icardi.
Probable Inter line up (subject to change): (4-3-1-2) Handanovic, Santon, Miranda, Medel, Telles, Melo, Kondogbia, Guarin, Perisic, Jovetic, Icardi (C).
Bench: Carrizo, Berni, Juan Jesus, Montoya, Ranocchia, Nagatomo, Di Marco, Brozovic, Gnoukouri, Palacio, Biabiany, Ljajic, Manaj.
Some Stats:
Inter and Fiorentina have met each other 156 times in Serie A with Inter winning 65 to Fiorentina’s 41 wins with 50 matches drawn.
In the overall records Inter lead with 68 wins to Fiorentina’s 46 wins with 53 drawn out of the 167 matches.
Fiorentina did the double over Inter last season, winning 3-0 at the Stadio Artemio Franchi and 1-0 at the San Siro.
The last time Inter beat Fiorentina in Serie A was two seasons ago on 15 February 2014 when Inter won 2-1 in Florence thanks to goals from Rodrigo Palacio and Mauro Icardi.
Inter have 3 ex Fiorentina players in their squad in Felipe Melo, Stevan Jovetic and Adem Ljajic.
Player to Watch: Felipe Melo – If Inter are to remain unbeaten then the Brazilian will be crucial especially with the way he breaks up opposition attacks and sets Inter’s play. Melo has been Inter’s metronome in midfield this season.
My Prediction: Inter 1-0 Fiorentina
Scorer: Jovetic
Officials: Referee: Antonio Damato Assistants: Di Fiore, De Pinto
Fourth Official: Cariolato Additional Assistants: Banti, Nasca
Author’s Note: This will be Inter’s biggest test so far as other than the Milan Derby the fixtures have been kind. Now that Inter have learnt how to win ugly I fully expect us to keep up our record. It would be important to win this game as it would send a message to the rest of Serie A ahead of matches against Sampdoria and Juventus.
Forza Inter!
