Coming into the season, most people expected Inter Milan to be a better team than they’ve been over the past few seasons, and some thought Fiorentina would improve as well. No one thought that after five rounds of Serie A play, Inter and Fiorentina would be first and second in the league. Not with Juventus, Roma, Napoli, Lazio and even AC Milan around, right?
Inter Milan vs. Fiorentina 2015 live stream: Game time, TV schedule and how to watch online
No one expected this to be a battle between the first and second place sides in Serie A, but that’s exactly what we have as Inter Milan and Fiorentina face off.
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Wrong.
Inter have started the season perfectly, with five wins in five matches, and Fiorentina are four for five with clean sheets in every win. Meanwhile, Roma have been shaky, Lazio has fallen off a cliff, Juventus have been awful and Napoli suffered a slow start that they’re only just starting to pull out of. Milan have actually been pretty good, but lost the two matches they played against, you guessed it, Inter and Fiorentina.
The nerazzurri and viola have both been massively impressive this season, and on the strength of their performances, this doesn’t really look like much of a fluke. There’s been some luck involved in their matches -- Inter won the Milan Derby 1-0, but that result just as easily could have gone the other way -- but both teams are enjoying life on top of Serie A, and will try to pile on as many points as they can while this hot run of form lasts.
There’s a huge opportunity in this match -- either Inter wins and pulls even further away from the pack, or Fiorentina does and pulls into joint-first place, making an already close top of the Serie A table look even more like a street fight in the making. Of course, they could also draw and leave things more or less at status quo, but this match has a feeling that it’s going to be a win one way or the other, with no points shared.
Key player -- Stevan Jovetic (Inter)
The former Fiorentina wonder kid couldn’t be blamed if he has some butterflies ahead of this match, but Jovetic will have to steady his nerves once the whistle blows. Inter’s leading scorer will have to be on-point to help break down what’s been a resolute Viola defense, who have allowed only three goals all season, all coming in one match. When he’s “on,” Jovetic has that silky trickiness that any defense struggles to contain, and you know he’ll be eager to get one over on his old club.
Key Matchup -- Alex Telles (Inter) vs. Jakub Blaszczykowski (Fiorentina)
Kuba was easily Fiorentina’s biggest summer signing, and he’s already made his presence felt in a big way, including a goal in his first league start midweek against Bologna. His speed and skill on the wing is something that Inter might struggle with, and Telles will have to be able to continue his impressive start to life at his new club if they’re going to keep the Polish winger at bay.
Inter Milan injuries and suspensions
Out: Jeison Murillo (hamstring), Dodo (knee), Nemanja Vidic (back) In doubt: Juan Jesus (foot)
Fiorentina injuries and suspensions
Out: Manuel Pasqual (leg), Marko Bakic (back)
Fiorentina will be without their captain after Pasqual picked up an injury before their midweek match against Bologna. Inter, though, might have the bigger problems, with Murillo’s continuing hamstring woes and Juan’s uncertain status meaning that Gary Medel will likely have to continue in defense for this match.
Match Date/Time: Sunday, 2:45 p.m. ET, 8:45 p.m. local
Venue: San Siro, Milan, Italy
TV: beIN Sports (U.S. & Canada), Sky Supercalcio HD, Sky Calcio 1, Sky Sport 1 HD Italia (Italy), BT Sport Europe (U.K.), RAI International
Online: Fubo TV, beIN Sports Connect (U.S. & Canada), Sky Go Italia (Italy)
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