Inter Milan have won all five of their competitive matches since the previous international break, maintaining their lead at the top of the Serie A (SA) standings and confirming UEFA Champions League knockout qualification with two rounds to spare. Their tally of 28 points after 11 matches of this top-flight campaign is just the fourth time they’ve collected at least 28 points by this stage since 1994/95, but they’d be wise not to get carried away just yet as only one of the previous three saw them win the Scudetto.
It’s therefore still early days for the title race, but to keep ahead of the chasing pack, Inter will be keen to correct their recent three-game league form at the San Siro (W1, D1, L1). They’ll hope that record will change for the better in their upcoming clash with Frosinone, as the hosts have a perfect H2H record across four matches, aggregating 11 goals and conceding just one.
Frosinone have impressed this season, starting this round just outside the top half despite losing three of their last five league games (W2). They are still part of a select group of 28 newly promoted SA clubs in the three-points-for-a-win era to have collected 15+ points after 11 games, and with 27 of those avoiding relegation, the visitors could be forgiven for now thinking an extra SA season is a realistic ambition.
But Frosinone’s success has been almost exclusively at home, with only two points coming on the road (D2, L3). That run saw them lose three league games in a row including a 4-3 defeat at Cagliari which earned them the unwanted distinction of being the first team in SA history to lose a match despite leading by three goals after 70 minutes.
Players to watch: Inter’s Hakan Çalhanoğlu has scored in three of his last five games, with his penalty against Atalanta last weekend making him the joint-highest Turkish scorer in SA history. Arijon Ibrahimović travels to a place where his famous namesake evokes great memories with both Milan clubs, immediately after becoming the youngest player in the traditional top-five European leagues to have scored and assisted in the same match when he did so against Empoli.
Hot streak: Inter have scored the match opener in 11 successive competitive home games.
