Inter bank on their fearsome record to topple Fiorentina in Serie A

Defence struggling ahead of the summit clash

Inter enter their clash with Fiorentina tomorrow, Sunday, in the eighth round of the Italian league, and the head-to-head record is firmly on their side. They have avoided defeat in 16 of their last 18 meetings with their rivals in the competition, winning 10 and drawing 6.

According to statistics specialists Opta, Fiorentina have scored 224 goals against Inter in the Italian league, more than they have managed against any other side.

No team, meanwhile, has scored more goals against Fiorentina in the competition than Inter, who are level with Juventus on 275.

Fiorentina have lost their last 3 away matches against Inter in the Italian league, having gone unbeaten in 3 of the previous 4 meetings with one win and two draws.

The last time the Viola suffered consecutive away defeats to Inter over a longer stretch came between 2001 and 2013, when they lost 12 games in a row.

Five defeats in their first 7 league matches this season tell a grim story, with just one win and one draw alongside them. Never in their history have Fiorentina lost more games in the opening 8 fixtures of a single campaign in the competition.

Inter, by contrast, have won all four of their home matches in the Italian league this season, scoring 15 goals.

Over the last 50 years, only 3 teams have won their first 5 home matches in a single season in the competition while scoring more goals than Inter across their first four: Roma, who scored 16 in 1990-1991 and 17 in 2016-2017, Juventus, who scored 17 in 2014-2015, and Sampdoria, who scored 16 in 2017-2018.

Fiorentina have shipped more goals than anyone else in the Italian league this season, their net shaken 17 times, and now they meet the competition's most lethal attack. Inter have scored 21.

Worse still, the Viola concede a goal for every 5 shots they face, the worst ratio of any side in the division this season.

Hakan Calhanoglu tops the list of players to have scored most against Fiorentina in the Italian league, with 7 goals, more than the Turkish midfielder has managed against any other team in the competition.

In the era of three points for a win, only 4 midfielders have bettered that tally against a single opponent: Cristiano Doni against Inter, Andrea Pirlo against Parma and Clarence Seedorf against Juventus, each with 8, plus Marek Hamsik, who scored 8 against Palermo and 9 against Bologna.

Cher Ndour scored in his last match against Inter at the Franchi back in March, a 1-1 draw. He is one of 5 players born in 2004 or later to have made at least 30 line-breaking passes against opponents, delivering 41, as well as recovering the ball at least 30 times, with 32 recoveries. Daryl Bakola, Reda Belahyane, Omar Ngom and Alessandro Romano join him on that list.

Inter remain unbeaten in the Italian league this season, despite conceding 9 goals.

Just 5 times in the history of the competition has a team avoided defeat in its first 8 matches while conceding more: Lucchese in 1936-1937 after conceding 10, Roma in 1955-1956 with the same number, Milan in 1992-1993 and 1999-2000 after conceding 11 each, and Inter themselves in 2004-2005, when they let in 13.

Inter have also racked up the most points of any Italian league side when coming from behind during the first 7 matches of the season, in the era of three points for a win. Their 10 points recovered from losing positions matches Juventus in 2013-2014 and Inter's own figure in 2021-2022.