The build - up to Juventus vs. Inter begins, numbers and statistics

MILAN - After the postponement of the game against Sampdoria and last night’s win over Ludogorets which saw the Nerazzurri progress through to the UEFA Europa League round of 16, Inter return to league action to face Sarri’s Juventus. With kick-off for matchday seven of the return set of fixtures set for 20:45 CET at the Allianz Stadium in Turin, let’s take a look at all the best statistics compiled in collaboration with Opta.

JUVENTUS VS. INTER, PREVIOUS ENCOUNTERS IN SERIE A

Sunday night’s game will be the 174th meeting between Juventus and Inter in Serie A, making it the most played fixture in the Italian league, level with Inter and Roma. The two sides have met 28 times in Serie A in the month of March, Inter most recent win in one of these 28 back in 1993. The only prior meeting on 1 March came in 1970, the game ending in a goalless draw. Inter’s last win against Juventus in the second half of the season came in April 2010, the victory decided by goals from Maicon and Eto’o on the day.

Inter have travelled to Turin to face Juventus in Serie A on 86 occasions. All of Inter’s last five goals at the Juventus Stadium have come in the second half, with the Nerazzurri’s last first-half goal away to Juventus in Serie A coming from Samuel Eto’o back in December 2009.

CURRENT FORM

Inter go into Sunday’s game after two wins against Ludogorets as Conte’s side progressed through to the UEFA Europa League round of 16. Their last league game saw them lose away to Lazio, while the Nerazzurri haven’t lost two away games in a row since the end of the 2016/17 campaign. More in general, Inter haven’t lost any two league games in a row for a year: the last time coming in the games against Torino and Bologna in January/February 2019.

Juventus haven’t drawn a Serie A game for eleven games (8W, 3L) - only SPAL (twelve) are on a longer run of games without a draw in the competition. This is the first season since 2015/16 that the Bianconeri have failed to win at least 20 of their first 25 games in a Serie A campaign (19 wins so far this season).

GENERAL STATISTICS

Inter and Juventus are the two teams to have scored in the most games this Serie A season, with either side having only failed to score on one occasion each. The Nerazzurri boast the best defence this season with 22 goals conceded, with Lazio (23) and Juventus (24) following closely behind.

Sunday’s game will see the side with the most points won at home this season (Juventus, 34) face up against the side with the most points won away (Inter, 29).

Inter are the team with the most different scorers in this league campaign (15), four more than the Bianconeri’s eleven. 54.4% of the Nerazzurri’s shots (excl. those blocked) have been on target, a record for the 2019/20 Serie A.

Inter (1024) and Juventus (865) are the two teams to have held a lead for the most minutes in the ongoing Serie A, while Conte’s side have found themselves behind on the lowest number of occasions (six).

PLAYER FOCUS

Three of the four players to have earned the most points for their teams through their goals will be in action on Sunday evening: Ronaldo (20 points earned), Lukaku (15) and Martínez (twelve), as well as four of the top five Serie A players for passes completed: Brozovic and Skriniar (1502), Bonucci (1481) and Pjanic (1458).

Christian Eriksen’s European debut came against Juventus in February 2010, our midfielder playing for Ajax at the time. Eriksen scored against the Bianconeri at the Juventus Stadium for Tottenham back in February 2018. Alexis Sánchez has also scored against our upcoming opponents, with two goals from four games against Juventus in Serie A, the last one coming in January 2011.

The only player currently in Inter’s side to have scored against Juventus in Serie A while in an Inter shirt is Lautaro Martínez, our Argentine scoring in the home game earlier this season.

Romelu Lukaku failed to score in his last league away game against Lazio - our no.9 hasn’t failed to score in two consecutive away games for Inter since signing in summer. In fact, our Belgian frontman is the top away scorer in all of Europe’s Top 5 leagues, with twelve goals.

Antonio Candreva’s next appearance will be his 350th in Serie A, with Stefan de Vrij also set to make his 50th appearance as a starter in the league for Inter.

The most recent of Diego Godín’s four Champions League goals came against Juventus back in February 2019.

Matías Vecino played 36 games under Maurizio Sarri in Serie A, scoring two goals in the 2014/15 season for Empoli.

THE COACHES

This will be the third encounter between Maurizio Sarri and Antonio Conte in Serie A, with one win apiece so far.