Inter Milan’s title quest continues this Friday when they welcome Empoli to the San Siro for the 36th round of the 2021/22 Serie A season.
Venue: Stadio Giuseppe Meazza (San Siro) (Milan)
Key Statistics
Inter Milan have four wins in their last five home games (d1).
They have scored the most goals in the league (74) and have also conceded the fewest goals (29).
Inter’s Ivan Perišić has been a consistent performer for Inter in their last five league games, contributing in each match with two goals and four assists.
The hosts have kept 9 clean sheets in their past 20 matches
Empoli have won just one of their last 18 Serie A games (D8, L9).
They have failed to win any of their last ten away games (five draws and five defeats).
The visitors have conceded two or more goals in 20 of their last 35 matches this season.
Head to head
Empoli has failed to beat Inter Milan since April 2006. The hosts have won nine straight home H2Hs.
Latest performances in all competitions
Inter Milan: W-L-W-W-W
Empoli: L-W-L-D-L
Inter Milan
Inter Milan will look to make it two wins in two games when they welcome Empoli to the San Siro on Friday.
The hosts bounced back from their disappointing 2-1 loss to Bologna last week with a 2-1 win over Udinese last time out. Although they had to hold on for the last 20 mites to secure the win, the result keeps them firmly in the title race just three games to the end of the season.
The ‘Nerazzurri’ are two points behind AC Milan in the Serie A title race and can stay atop for a couple of days with a win here given that AC Milan are not in action until later in the weekend.
Head coach Simone Inzaghi has insisted that he want his side to focus on taking it “step by step” as he looks to make home advantage count in this pulsating title fight.
Given that his side are unbeaten in their last five home game, they will come into this game as the favourites. The defending champions have four wins across their last five home matches, so they should be confident of securing another three vital points here.
Possible Inter Milan starting line-up
Samir Handanovic; Danilo D’Ambrosio, Stefan de Vrij, Milan Skriniar; Matteo Darmian, Arturo Vidal, Marcelo Brozovic, Hakan Calhanoglu, Ivan Perisic; Lautaro Martinez, Edin Dzeko.
Injured: Nicolo Barella, Alessandro Bastoni
Doubtful: None
Suspended: None
Empoli
Meanwhile, Empoli will look to pick up just their second three points in the league since December when they travel to Milan on Friday.
The hosts come into this tie on the back of a 3-1 loss to Torino with two of their players given their marching orders in that game.
Despite their poor league form which has seen them win just one of their last 18 games, they are still 14th in the league and with their Serie A safety already guaranteed.
That only win, which came last month, was a momentous one though, as Empoli practically killed Napoli’s title chances in a stunning 3-2 comeback, and in search of motivation, boss Aurelio Andreazzoli might call on his side to play spoilsport for another title-chaser again.
But considering their form away from home, it is difficult to see that happening. The visitors have no away win since mid-December (D5, L5) while they picked up just one point from their last five road trips too, which includes three straight losses. They also failed to score in 5 of their last 10 away matches but could take some confidence from their disciplined performance at this venue against AC Milan in March, where they suffered a narrow 1-0 defeat.
Possible Empoli starting line-up
Guiglierlmo Vicario; Ricardo Fiamozzi, Mattia Viti, Sebastiano Luperto, Fabinho Parisi; Szymon Zurkowski, Kristjan Asllani, Liam Henderson; Nedim Bajrami; Di Francesco, Andrea Pinamonti.
Injured: Lorenzo Tonelli, Nicolas Haas
Doubtful: None
Suspended: Valerio Verre, Petar Stojanović
Prediction
Inter 2-0 Empoli
