Inter vs Fiorentina Preview: How to Watch on TV, Live Stream, Kick Off Time & Team News
By Michael Lee
Inter take on Fiorentina this Saturday night, with the home team looking for a winning start to their Serie A campaign.
Internazionale finished second in the league last season, as chronic inconsistency fatally hampered their chances of overhauling Juventus. Manager Antonio Conte has raided the Premier League for talent in recent times, and the hope for the Europa League runners-up is that they can cap their impressive rebuilding process with silverware.
In Florence, cautious optimism is building that La Viola are making progress after a difficult few years. After finishing 16th in 2018/19, Fiorentina were solidly mid-table last season and started this campaign with a 1-0 win over Torino. With the veteran Franck Ribery in their ranks, Fiorentina possess the attacking prowess to trouble Conte's Inter.
Where to Watch on TV
When Is Kick Off? Saturday 26 September
What Time Is Kick Off? 19:45 (BST)
Where Is it Played? San Siro
TV Channel/Live Stream? Premier Sports (UK), ESPN+ (US)
Referee? Gianpaolo Calvarese
Team News
Inter will be hoping that summer signings Achraf Hakimi and Aleksander Kolarov will be available for their debuts on Saturday. Defender Stefan de Vrij will be suspended after accumulating too many bookings in last season's final matches, while Lauturo Martinez is still at the club despite reported interest from Barcelona.
For Fiorentina, their only absentee for Saturday's match will be Erick Pulgar. Sofyan Amrabat joined the club during the week and will be pushing for inclusion - however, Fiorentina have won their last three league matches and manager Giuseppe Iachini may be tempted to stick to a winning formula.
Predicted Line-Ups
Inter: Handanovic; Kolarov, Bastoni, Skriniar; Young, Sensi, Brozovic, Barella, Hakimi; Martinez, Lukaku.
Fiorentina: Dragowski; Caceres, Pezzella, Mikenkovic; Biraghi, Castrovilli. Duncan, Amrabat, Chiesa; Ribery, Kouame.
Recent Form
Inter are starting their Serie A season one week late due to their Europa League exploits. After smashing Shaktar Donetsk in the semi-final, Conte's men fell to Sevilla in an exciting final. In Italy, their league campaign ended in impressively controlled victories over Atalanta and Lazio.
Fiorentina ended last season with one defeat in four matches, their only reverse coming at Roma. Including their win over Torino last week, the club have enjoyed three straight league victories, one of which was a 4-0 demolition of Bologna. Therefore, hopes are high of achieving a positive result at San Siro this weekend.
Here are each teams last five competitive results:
Inter
Sevilla 3-2 Inter (21/8)
Inter 5-0 Shaktar Donetsk (17/8)
Inter 2-1 Bayer Leverkusen (10/8)
Inter 2-0 Getafe (5/8)
Atalanta 0-2 Inter (1/8)
Fiorentina
Fiorentina 1-0 Torino (19/9)
Spal 1-3 Fiorentina (2/8)
Fiorentina 4-0 Bologna (29/7)
Roma 2-1 Fiorentina (26/7)
Inter Milan 0-0 Fiorentina (22/8)
Prediction
While this fixture may not reach the heights of the 1990s, when Ronaldo and Gabriel Batistuta were up front for Inter and Fiorentina respectively, there is plenty of talent on show to make Saturday's match an engrossing one.
Inter will be hoping to get their league campaign off to a winning start and put last season's heartbreak against Sevilla behind them. Luckily, they have the ability to do so; Antonio Conte has moulded an efficient team that can hurt the opposition in a multitude of ways. Fix their inconsistency problems and they will challenge for the Serie A title.
But, Saturday's opponents Fiorentina are no mugs. Any forward line that contains Ribery and Federico Chiesa has the ability to hurt any defence. Alongside this, their recent good form suggests Fiorentina will enter this match in good confidence and will provide an early test of Inter's title credentials.
Expect this game will end in a draw - a result that would please the visiting Tuscans more than their hosts.
Predicted Score: Inter 1-1 Fiorentina