Inter’s strong Fiorentina record tested by Serie A’s leakiest defence

Inter will look to extend their dominant recent record against Fiorentina when the sides meet on Sunday in the eighth round of Serie A.

Inter have avoided defeat in 16 of their past 18 league meetings with Fiorentina, winning 10 and drawing six. Opta statistics show Fiorentina have scored 224 goals against Inter in Serie A, more than against any other opponent.

Inter, meanwhile, have scored more Serie A goals against Fiorentina than any other team has managed, sharing the record of 275 with Juventus.

Fiorentina have lost their last three league away games against Inter. That run follows a period in which they went unbeaten in three of their previous four visits, recording one win and two draws. Their longest sequence of successive away defeats by Inter lasted 12 matches between 2001 and 2013.

Contrasting starts to the season

Fiorentina have lost five of their opening seven Serie A matches this season, alongside one victory and one draw. They have never suffered more defeats in their first eight matches of a campaign.

Inter, by contrast, have won all four of their home league fixtures this season, scoring 15 goals. In the past 50 years, only three teams have won their first five home matches of a Serie A season while scoring more goals across their opening four home games than Inter have this term.

Roma scored 16 goals in their first four home matches in 1990-91 and 17 in 2016-17. Juventus also scored 17 in 2014-15, while Sampdoria recorded 16 in 2017-18.

Fiorentina have conceded more goals than any other side in Serie A this season, with their defence breached 17 times. They now face the competition’s most prolific attack, with Inter having scored 21 goals.

Fiorentina concede once for every five shots they face, the poorest rate among Serie A teams this season.

Hakan Calhanoglu is the leading scorer in this fixture, having scored seven times against Fiorentina in Serie A. It is the highest number of goals he has scored against any one team in the competition.

Since three points for a win were introduced, only four midfielders have scored more often against a single opponent: Cristiano Doni scored eight against Inter, Andrea Pirlo eight against Parma, Clarence Seedorf eight against Juventus and Marek Hamsik eight against Palermo and nine against Bologna.

Cher Ndour scored in his most recent appearance against Inter at the Stadio Artemio Franchi in March, a 1-1 draw. He is one of five players born in 2004 or later to have completed at least 30 line-breaking passes and made at least 30 recoveries this season, registering 41 and 32 respectively. The others are Daryl Bakoula, Reda Belahyane, Omar Ngom and Alessandro Romano.

Inter remain unbeaten in Serie A despite conceding nine goals. Only five times in the competition’s history has a team avoided defeat in its opening eight matches while allowing more goals: Lucchese conceded 10 in 1936-37, Roma 10 in 1955-56, Milan 11 in both 1992-93 and 1999-2000, and Inter 13 in 2004-05.

Inter have also taken 10 points from losing positions in their first seven matches, the joint-highest total in the three-points-for-a-win era, matching Juventus in 2013-14 and Inter in 2021-22.