Fiorentina vs Inter Milan
Sunday night in Florence points to a fun Serie A match when home favourites Fiorentina will host the title favourites Inter Milan.
It’s fourth versus second and, if this game is half as exciting as the corresponding fixture last season, boy are you in for a treat because we expect a lot of Serie A 2024 highlights from this fixture.
Talking Points
Last season’s Italian Cup and Super Cup winners, Inter added another trophy to their silverware haul earlier this week with a narrow, last-gasp victory over Napoli in the final of the Italian Super Cup in Saudi Arabia.
Yet victory could prove costly as Nicolò Barella picked up a yellow card that will lead to him being suspended for the visit to Florence.
Juventus also took advantage of Inter’s absence last weekend to move ahead of them into first place. The gap is only one point and the Nerazzurri have a game in hand but there are different pressures at play when you are no longer setting the pace.
The drama is continuing apace in Serie A so we could be set for more in Florence in a repeat of last season’s Coppa Italia final.
On the team news front, the hosts may be able to welcome back their leading goalscorer, Nicolas Gonzalez, who has been recuperating from injury.
The Argentina international was made available for the Supercoppa semi-final last week but only if the match went to a penalty shoot-out (it didn’t). He’s unlikely to start on Sunday but may be handed a place on the bench.
For Inter, influential defender Alessandro Bastoni should be involved following injury, although they will be without the suspended Hakan Calhanoglu.
Juan Cuadrado is also injured for the Nerazzurri and that could see manager Simone Inzaghi call upon Davide Frattesi, who has netted some important goals of late, in midfield.
After a tough few years, Fiorentina showed signs of a renaissance last season as they reached the finals of both the Coppa Italia and Conference League.
Should they secure a top four finish this term, it would be their best achievement for some time. A good result against the title favourites would go a long way.
History
This has been a game which has produced some classics and Serie A highlights in recent years.
I remember in 2019 when the sides played out a 3-3 draw in Serie A when a first minute own goal gave the hosts the lead. Inter then fought back to lead 3-1 through Matias Vecino, Matteo Politano, and Perisic before Luis Muriel and a last minute Jordan Veretout penalty left the Florence fans happy.
Two years earlier, Fiorentina edged a nine-goal thriller in front of their own fans – doubles from Vecino, Khoumar Babacar and a header from the late skipper Davide Astori sealed a 5-4 win.
They were well in the ascendancy until two goals in the final three minutes from Mauro Icardi completed his hat-trick and brought Inter back to within a goal.
What was only the Viola’s second success over Inter in their last 17 meetings came last season when Giacomo Bonaventura headed the only goal of the contest eight minutes after the restart to seal a fine win the San Siro.
The other league meeting last term saw Inter edge a seven-goal thriller in Florence when Henrikh Mkhitaryan scored a 95th minute winner, just after Luka Jovic seemed to have rescued Fiorentina a point.
They then tasted victory in the Coppa Italia Final with a 2-1 success, as Gonzalez’s opener was cancelled out by a Lautaro Martinez double.
A 4-0 triumph in September came courtesy of another Martinez brace, France forward Marcus Thuram’s first goal for Inter and a Calhanoglu penalty.
Overall, Inter have 72 league victories against Fiorentina who have won on 45 occasions with a further 54 draws.
Betting Tip
Inter face a tough test potentially but are naturally favourites with the SBOTOP Serie A 2024 betting odds, including First Half 1X2 @ 2.43, First Half Asian Handicap -0.25 @ 2.09, 1X2 @ 1.99, and Asian Handicap @ -0.75 @ 2.31 which is my tip.
Fiorentina can be backed First Half 1X2 @ 4.16, First Half Asian Handicap 0.00 @ 2.66, 1X2 @ 3.45 and Asian Handicap + 0.25 @ 1.19.The draw gives you odds of @ 3.22.
A repeat of last season’s Coppa Italia Final is on offer @ 8.00 with Correct Score 1-2, while a repeat of last season’s seven-goal thriller will pay out at a whopping @ 200.00.
Goal options to look at range from Total Goal 0-1 @ 3.28 to 4-6 @ 3.37 and Over 2.75 @ 2.21.
A SHORT EXPLANATION ON HOW OUR (⭐) BETS ARE WORTH:
⭐⭐⭐= €20 (HIGHLY CONFIDENT)
⭐⭐= €10 (CONFIDENT))
⭐= €5 (SOMEWHAT CONFIDENT)
Disclaimer: Odds are correct at time of publish.
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