Stats and trivia ahead of Inter vs. Roma

MILAN – After their win against Spal, Inter’s twelfth in 14 games so far this season, Antonio Conte’s side, who sit on 37 points in the league, are getting ready to face Paulo Fonseca’s Roma team on matchday 15 of the Serie A TIM season. The match at San Siro will kick off at 20:45 CET on Friday.

PREVIOUS MEETINGS BETWEEN INTER AND ROMA

Inter and Roma have met on 172 occasions in Serie A, with the Nerazzurri having won 72 of those matches compared to the Giallorossi’s 49. The two sides have drawn 51 times in the Italian top flight, including the last three games they’ve played against each other. It’s a fixture that has produced many goals: 499 so far, meaning 500 could be reached on Friday. The upcoming game will be the 87th time that the teams have faced off in Milan, where Inter have won on 44 occasions and Roma a total of 15 times. 27 matches between the Nerazzurri and the Giallorossi at the Meazza have finished in draws.

FORM GUIDE

For the first time in the Club’s history, Inter have recorded twelve wins from their opening 14 Serie A fixtures. Both the Nerazzurri and Roma are heading into Friday’s clash in excellent form: both have emerged victorious in five of their past six matches, with Conte’s men having drawn the other game and Fonseca’s team suffering a defeat. The two teams aren’t just winning, they’re also scoring plenty of goals: Inter have netted for 17 consecutive matches in Serie A (the longest current run out of all the teams in the top tier) and have scored at least two goals in all of their last ten matches. Roma have found the net on at least three occasions in three of their past five away fixtures in all competitions.

GENERAL STATISTICS

Inter (11) and Roma (12) are the two sides who have scored the most goals from dead ball situations over the course of the first 14 matches this Serie A season. They are also the two teams who have netted the most during the first 30 minutes of play (the Nerazzurri have already equalled the number of goals they scored during this time period across the whole of last season: 12).

The Nerazzurri and the Giallorossi are also leading the way when it comes to the highest amount of goalscorers so far this Serie A season (eleven each, level with Cagliari). Seven of Roma’s goals have been scored by defenders, while all of Inter’s have been netted through players who took to the pitch as starters.

PLAYER FOCUS

On the one hand, Lautaro Martinez is the man who has scored the most in the first half an hour of play this Serie A campaign (six goals). On the other hand, Romelu Lukaku has been the most prolific player during the second half of games (eight goals). The Belgian and Argentine are the two players who have added the most points to their team’s tally thanks to the goals they’ve bagged (eleven and ten points respectively).

Marcelo Brozovic has provided an assist in two consecutive Serie A appearances for the second time in his career.

Since 2015/16,Matías Vecino has scored five of his twelve Serie A goals against teams from Italy’s capital: three against Lazio and two against Roma.

Stefan De Vrij (four: a goal and three assists) and Chris Smalling (three: a goal and two assists) are the two central defenders who have played an active part in the most goals this Serie A campaign (Rafael Tolói has also been involved in three goals).

Matteo Politano, who came through Roma’s youth ranks but never played for the team from Italy’s capital, scored his first Serie A goal at the Stadio Olimpico against the Giallorossi in September 2015 while playing for Sassuolo.

Edin Dzeko has been involved in six goals at the Meazza (three goals and three assists): excluding the Stadio Olimpico, it’s the stadium where he’s had the most success in this regard.

Only Luis Alberto (nine) has provided more assists than Lorenzo Pellegrini (six) so far this season. The Giallorossi midfielder has already equalled his assist record in a single Serie A campaign: six in 2016/17 with Sassuolo.

Alessandro Florenzi scored his first Serie A goal against Inter in September 2012. He’s netted two against the Nerazzurri in the league (the second came in October 2013), both of which he bagged at San Siro.

Cengiz Ünder made his Serie A debut against Inter in August 2017. One of the eleven goals the Turk has scored in the Italian top tier came against Inter in December 2018.