Inter Milan will be looking to preserve their perfect record when they host Fiorentina in the Serie A. While their Viola opponents are also unbeaten in the league. Inter have started the 2023–24 season with consecutive victories and have yet to allow a goal.
Preview (Inter Milan vs. Fiorentina)
Lautaro Martinez scored twice to help Inter defeat Lombardy rivals Monza on the first day of the season. Last time out in Sardinia, the Nerazzurri’s new captain scored once more. ‘El Toro’ scored soon after Denzel Dumfries had given Inter the lead. It effectively ended Cagliari’s chances of turning their Monday night match into a genuine tussle. The last time Inter began a season with three shutout victories was in 1966. That is what they will be aiming for on Sunday. As a result, Simone Inzaghi’s team has won while maintaining a clean sheet twice in Serie A this year.
In fact, in the roughly 270 minutes since Atalanta’s injury-time goal in May, they have not conceded a single goal. This defensive toughness may help them overcome the chronic inconsistency that prevented them from competing for the Scudetto last season. Inter placed third in the final Serie A standings despite their impressive performance in Europe. They will prioritize another victory at home in order to cap off a week that saw them drawn against Benfica, Real Sociedad, and RB Salzburg in this year’s Champions League group stage. Inzaghi will now lead his club out at San Siro after adding two late additions to his squad. The additions are in the form of top target Benjamin Pavard and back-up midfielder Davy Klaasen.
After suffering a heartbreaking 4-3 home loss earlier in the season and going 11 Serie A games without a victory over the Nerazzurri overall, Fiorentina eventually beat Inter in April thanks to a goal from Giacomo Bonaventura. The Viola may think they can repeat their perfect start to the season this week. They might have easily joined Inter with the most points so far. After crushing Genoa on the first day, Vincenzo Italiano’s team led Lecce 2-0 last Sunday with two goals from Alfred Duncan and the hot-shot winger Nicolas Gonzalez, but they let the triumph slip away by giving up two goals in the second half.
Team News
Despite Benjamin Pavard’s arrival in Italy after a summer-long search, Inter are most likely to start the same back three on Sunday, especially because Francesco Acerbi is still sidelined with an injury. Simone Inzaghi might give Italy midfielder Davide Frattesi his first start in a Nerazzurri uniform even though Henrikh Mkhitaryan is anticipated to recover from a minor knee injury. As Inzaghi prioritizes continuity, fellow newcomers Marko Arnautovic, Juan Cuadrado, and Yann Bisseck may all have to settle for a spot on the bench. Maxime Lopez, Fiorentina’s most recent transfer, will likely start for the Viola as one of their backup midfielders since he practically replaces Sofyan Amrabat.
As a result of Luka Jovic’s move to Inter’s city rivals AC Milan and the long-anticipated departure of Amrabat, Lucas Beltran and M’Bala Nzola are now competing for the starting spot up front. Nicolas Gonzalez, one of Vincenzo Italiano’s regulars, has scored four goals so far this season. Giacomo Bonaventura, an ex-Milan midfielder, has been directly involved in eight Serie A goals versus Inter thus far. It included the game-winning goal at San Siro last season. The Inter team is more established than Fiorentina’s, which was constantly changing up until the deadline.
Inter Milan 2 – 1 Fiorentina
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