Greetings and welcome to another helping of InterStats, where we look at the numbers between Inter and their opponents for the upcoming match, and try to get an idea of how the result will turn out.
This afternoon Inter head to the capital, Rome, to face Lazio, in what is the 155th time the two sides have met in the Serie A alone. Last season Lazio finished in 4th, 4 points behind 2nd placed Inter, and will definitely be hoping to improve on that this year.
Over the past 8 meetings between the two clubs, Inter have won the majority with 5, and Lazio have won 2, the extra game ending in a draw. Interestingly, the last 5 times Inter have went to the Olimpico, they have come out with 3 wins, and Lazio have won twice, so previous results point in Inter’s favour for sure.
In the past, whenever these two teams met, it would mean goals, goals and more goals, like when Lazio thumped Inter 5-3 in 98/99, or when Inter took the spoils 4-3 at home in the 06/07 season. But surprisingly, no team has scored more than 3 goals against the other team since May 2014 when Inter came out on top 4-3.
With Inter’s past two matches this season ending 4-3 and 5-2, they seem in unstoppable form attacking wise and it would take an immense effort from the Lazio defense to resist a full flying Inter attack.
Lazio may be a little shell shocked by their recent 4-1 thumping at home to Atalanta in the midweek fixtures, Inzaghi should be looking to bounce back from this result and prove to everyone that last season was no fluke and they are indeed title contenders, and who better to prove that to, than the (arguably) title favourites Inter?
The key figures to watch tonight are obvious choices, and for good reason. They are both playing similar roles for both teams, and both have similar goals too.
Romelu Lukaku already has 3 league goals to his name, in his first 2 appearances. This players really wants to lead by example, from the front, and with service from the likes of Hakimi, who has already provided 2 of Lukaku’s 3 goals, and bagged one himself to boot!
Ciro Immobile, last years top scorer, winner of the golden boot, has not been as prolific in his first 2 games, albeit they are only two games. Ciro has scored 1 goal so far, in the opening game against Cagliari, and didn’t manage to score in their 4-1 defeat to Atalanta.
It might also be worth noting that Ciro does not have the greatest record against Inter either, having faced them 12 times in the league, he has scored 3 goals, 2 of them when he was plying his trade at Torino, and once for Lazio, the penalty in the last match the two sides played against each other, which Lazio came out winning 2-1.
This will definitely be an interesting match, and may go on to be a defining moment for each clubs league campaign. Enjoy, this is going to be Calcio at it’s very best.
Hit us up on InterStats & SempreInter on Twitter using #InterStats before, during and after the game for coverage of the fixture.
