Prediction: Fiorentina vs Inter Milan

Verdict: Under 2.5 goals

Best Odds: 6/7

Bookmaker: 888sport

After ending the previous year with a 1-1 draw against AC Milan, Fiorentina will be hoping to kick off the New Year by defeating Inter Milan at Artemio Franchi. The Nerazzurri have been on a major downtrend of late and they desperately need a morale-boosting win to kick-start their season.

Fiorentina

Having missed several good chances to secure Champions League qualification when they were on a high, Fiorentina are now struggling to even qualify for Europa League, and the squad is now in the rebuilding stage. Former Lazio boss Stefano Pioli has got some very talented footballers at his disposal such as Giovanni Simeone, Federico Chiesa, Marco Benassi and Khouma Babacar, but the team do lack some experience and are desperately short of true leaders at the moment. In spite of all their problems, Viola have done fairly well so far, climbing to eighth in the overall standings and they now sit just three points behind sixth-placed Sampdoria. While crashing out of Coppa Italia, Fiorentina are unbeaten in last seven league fixtures, although they recorded just two wins during that period. With their last four league games having produced mere three goals, chances are we will witness another low-scoring affair when they take on out-of-form Inter Milan. Fiorentina fared pretty well when facing AC Milan last time out, and they will be looking to produce another promising performance on Friday evening.

Team News

Stefano Pioli is sweating over the fitness of Bruno Gaspar and German Pezzella, but Federico Chiesa will be recalled to the side.

Inter Milan

Inter Milan were not exactly seen as one of the candidates for the Serie A trophy, but the Nerazzurri enjoyed an excellent start to the season and even climbed to the league summit after a glorious performance in the 5-0 trashing of Chievo at San Siro Stadio. When they also held holders Juventus to a goalless draw in Turin, some of us began to wonder whether Luciano Spalletti’s men could actually challenge for the Serie A trophy, but the good run would soon come to an end. Disappointing performances against Pordenone and AC Milan saw Inter Milan get knocked out of Coppa Italia, while league setbacks vs Udinese, Sassuolo and Lazio resulted in a seven-point gap behind leaders Napoli. Following five poor performances in a row, Luciano Spalletti needs to quickly find a way to get his side back on track or else this will turn into a very disappointing season. Having failed to score a single goal in last three away fixtures on all fronts, the first task will be to improve up front, with Ivan Perisic and Mauro Icardi expected to pull the weight.

Team News

With Danilo D’Ambrosio and Joao Miranda missing out, Joao Cancelo and Andrea Ranocchia will get a chance to start.

Key Factors to Consider

• Fiorentina unbeaten in last seven league games (W2 D5)
• Inter Milan failed to score in last three away fixtures (D1 L2)
• Viola’s last four games produced mere three goals
• Fiorentina won last four meetings with Inter at home
• Viola also won five of their last seven meetings

Conclusion

Fiorentina have proved a tough nut to crack of late and with just three goals scored in their last four games, we expect the trend of low-scoring fixtures to continue, especially considering that Inter Milan are low on confidence after failing to get on the scoresheet in last three away matches.

Verdict: Under 2.5 goals

Best Odds: 6/7

Bookmaker: 888sport