Inter’s unbeaten start faces Fiorentina test as defensive concerns grow

Inter will look to extend their strong record against Fiorentina when the sides meet on Sunday in the eighth round of the Italian league, with the hosts unbeaten in 16 of their past 18 meetings in the competition.

Inter have won 10 and drawn six of those matches. Fiorentina, meanwhile, have lost their last three away games against Inter in Serie A, after avoiding defeat in three of their previous four visits, with one victory and two draws.

The recent sequence is a significant reversal for Fiorentina. Their last longer run of consecutive away defeats by Inter came between 2001 and 2013, when they lost 12 matches in a row.

Fiorentina have endured a difficult opening to the season, losing five of their first seven league games and recording only one win and one draw. They have never suffered more defeats in their first eight matches of a Serie A campaign.

Their defensive record is the worst in the division, with 17 goals conceded. That will be tested by an Inter side who have scored 21 times, the league’s highest total. Fiorentina have allowed a goal from one in every five shots faced, the poorest rate among Serie A teams this season.

Inter, by contrast, have won all four of their home league matches this season, scoring 15 goals. In the past 50 years, only three clubs have won their opening five home games of a Serie A season while scoring more than Inter’s average output across those first four fixtures: Roma scored 16 in 1990-91 and 17 in 2016-17, Juventus scored 17 in 2014-15, and Sampdoria scored 16 in 2017-18.

The head-to-head statistics also highlight an unusual pattern. Fiorentina have scored 224 league goals against Inter, more than against any other opponent. Inter, however, have scored 275 against Fiorentina, matching Juventus for the most goals scored by any team against them in the competition.

Hakan Calhanoglu is Fiorentina’s most prolific opponent in this fixture, having scored seven Serie A goals against them. It is the highest number he has scored against any single team in the competition.

Only four midfielders in the three-points-for-a-win era have scored more than seven against one opponent: Cristiano Doni against Inter, Andrea Pirlo against Parma and Clarence Seedorf against Juventus, all with eight, while Marek Hamsik scored eight against Palermo and nine against Bologna.

Cher Ndour scored against Inter at the Stadio Artemio Franchi last March in 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 ball recoveries this season, recording 41 and 32 respectively. The others are Darryl Bakola, Reda Belahyane, Omar Ngom and Alessandro Romano.

Inter remain unbeaten despite conceding nine goals. Only five teams in Serie A history have avoided defeat in their opening eight matches after conceding more: Lucchese in 1936-37 and Roma in 1955-56 conceded 10, while Milan conceded 11 in both 1992-93 and 1999-2000. Inter themselves conceded 13 in 2004-05.

Inter have also taken 10 points from matches in which they fell behind, the highest total in the three-points era after seven games. That record has previously been matched by Juventus in 2013-14 and Inter in 2021-22.