Fiorentina vs Inter Milan
Italy Serie A
Date: Friday, 5 February 2021
Kick-Off at 19.45 UK
Venue: Stadio Artemio Franchi, Florence.
Fiorentina and Inter face each other in a highly-anticipated game at Stadio Artemio Franchi on Friday evening.
Fiorentina are eyeing their third consecutive win at home ground, and they are likely to adopt an attack-minded approach against Inter.
However, home win should not be considered as both Milenkovic and Castrovilli are banned for the hosts.
The Nerazzurri, on the other hand, rolled over Benevento 4-0 to stay in the race for Scudetto.
Since aforementioned Milenkovic will be sorely missed in Friday’s showdown, we are tempted to put our money on Romelu Lukaku and Co.
Antonio Conte should have a full squad to choose from, which is yet another reason why we are tempted to put our money on the visiting team this time out.
In the first half of the season Inter recorded a thrilling 4-3 win over Fiorentina at Stadio Giuseppe Meazza.
Fiorentina vs Inter Milan Head-to-head
Teams Fiorentina Inter played so far 43 matches.
Fiorentina won 10 direct matches. Inter won 25 matches. 8 matches ended in a draw. On average in direct matches both teams scored a 3.02 goals per Match.
Fiorentina vs Inter Milan Prediction
Fiorentina in actual season average scored 1.40 goals per match. In 10 (71.43%) matches played at home was total goals (team and opponent) Over 1.5 goals. In 7 (50.00%) matches in season 2021 played at home was total goals (team and opponent) Over 2.5 goals.
Inter average scored 2.52 goals per match in season 2021. In 12 (85.71%) matches played away was total goals (team and opponent) Over 1.5 goals. In 9 (64.29%) matches played away team was total goals (team and opponent) Over 2.5 goals.
Team News:
Centre-back Nikola Milenkovic and midfielder Gaetano Castrovilli will both miss out for Fiorentina after seeing red against Torino, while Brazilian defender Igor remains a doubt after going off with injury last Friday. Lucas Martinez Quarta should deputise for Milenkovic, with Erick Pulgar or Borja Valero in line to replace Castrovilli.
New signings Kevin Malcuit, from Napoli, and controversial Russian striker Aleksandr Kokorin are both short of match fitness, with the latter training alone since joining from Spartak Moscow. As Malcuit is unlikely to start, Martin Caceres could come in on the right of Cesare Prandelli's 3-5-2.
Inter faced Juventus as recently as Tuesday and will tackle them again on the same day next week. Therefore, Roberto Gagliardini could come into midfield in place of Nicolo Barella, with the recently reinvented Christian Eriksen a possible replacement for Marcelo Brozovic. Suspended for the semi-final second leg, Arturo Vidal should continue in the central three.
The much-missed Achraf Hakimi and Romelu Lukaku are expected to return instead of Matteo Darmian and Alexis Sanchez, after missing out in midweek due to suspension, while Antonio Conte is tipped to retain his first-choice centre-back trio and ever-present goalkeeper Samir Handanovic despite the quick turnaround.
Fiorentina possible starting lineup:
Dragowski; Martinez Quarta, Pezzella, Igor; Caceres, Bonaventura, Amrabat, Pulgar, Biraghi; Ribery, Vlahovic
Inter Milan possible starting lineup:
Handanovic; Skriniar, De Vrij, Bastoni; Hakimi, Gagliardini, Eriksen, Vidal, Young; Martinez, Lukaku