Inter Milan will be looking to make a winning start to their 2020-21 Serie A campaign when they welcome Fiorentina to San Siro on Saturday night.
Antonio Conte's side were given an extra week to recover due to their involvement in the Europa League final, but Fiorentina opened their league season last weekend with a 1-0 win over Torino.
Match preview
© Reuters
Inter's 2019-20 campaign might have ended in disappointment as they lost to Sevilla in the Europa League final, but there is no question that the Italian side made huge strides forward last term.
Indeed, Conte's team finished second in Serie A, just a single point behind the champions Juventus, and the club's supporters will be expecting another title challenge this season.
It seems incredible to think that Inter have not won Serie A since 2010, while they finished ninth in 2012-13 and eighth in 2014-15 during a very difficult period.
Back-to-back fourth-place finishes were followed by second last term, though, and the Black and Blues have put together a squad full of quality and one certainly capable of again challenging for silverware this term.
Achraf Hakimi has been the club's major incoming this summer in terms of a transfer fee, while Lautaro Martinez is also still at the club despite suggestions that Barcelona are determined to sign him.
© Reuters
Fiorentina, meanwhile, opened their 2020-21 Serie A campaign with a 1-0 victory over Torino last weekend courtesy of a 78th-minute strike from Gaetano Castrovilli.
The Purple One improved on their 16th-place finish in 2018-19 to claim 10th last season but are still some way off being the top-four side that they were between 2012 and 2015.
A quick glance at the Fiorentina squad suggests that they have the quality to push for a top-half finish this season, though, and Giuseppe Iachini's side have actually now won their last three league matches.
La Viola are also unbeaten in each of their last three Serie A matches with Inter, including a goalless draw in the corresponding fixture between the two sides in the latter stages of last season.
Inter Milan pre-season form: WW
Fiorentina Serie A form: W
Team News
© Reuters
Inter will be without the services of Stefan de Vrij on the opening weekend through suspension, meaning that new signing Aleksandar Kolarov could line up as part of a back three.
Milan Skriniar, Marcelo Brozovic and Andrea Ranocchia are all being linked with moves away from the club and are therefore not expected to be involved, at least not from the start.
Arturo Vidal could make the bench following his arrival, while Ivan Perisic could be handed a starting role, having returned from a loan spell at Bayern Munich last season.
Christian Eriksen is also likely to be handed a start in the position behind Martinez and Romelu Lukaku, leaving Alexis Sanchez on the bench.
Fiorentina, meanwhile, have no fresh concerns from their win over Torino last weekend, meaning that Iachini could select the same XI that took to the field against Torino.
Federico Chiesa has been linked with a move away from the club this summer, but it seems likely that the Italian will stick around, and he could again feature on the right at San Siro.
Borja Valero re-joined Fiorentina from Inter over the summer and will hoping to be involved, but Franck Ribery and Christian Kouame could continue in the final third of the field.
Inter Milan possible starting lineup:
Handanovic; D'Ambrosio, Bastoni, Kolarov; Hakimi, Barella, Gagliardini, Perisic; Eriksen; Lukaku, Martinez
Fiorentina possible starting lineup:
Dragowski; Milenkovic, Ceccherini, Caceres; Chiesa, Bonaventura, Duncan, Castrovilli, Biraghi; Ribery, Kouame
We say: Inter Milan 2-0 Fiorentina
Fiorentina will have been boosted by their win on the opening weekend of the season, but Inter are the strong favourites to triumph on Saturday. The hosts might not be at full strength, but we fully expect Conte's side to start their 2020-21 campaign with a positive result.
Top betting tip
Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting under 3.5 goals in this match. Click here to find out what else they are predicting for this game and for more of their tried-and-tested football tips.Under 3.5:data
Matt Law
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Inter Milan win with a probability of 67.2%. A draw had a probability of 18.6% and a win for Fiorentina had a probability of 14.17%.
The most likely scoreline for a Inter Milan win was 2-0 with a probability of 10.54%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (9.79%) and 1-0 (9.38%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (8.71%), while for a Fiorentina win it was 1-2 (4.04%). The actual scoreline of 4-3 was predicted with a 0.6% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Inter Milan would win this match.
