Pezzella will be Empoli’s most fouled player starting on Sunday, boasting an impressive average of 1.54 fouls drawn per 90 minutes.

He’s been brought down at least once in 14 of his 21 league appearances to date, meanwhile 4 of the 7 exceptions can be accounted for by a premature departure from the pitch.

Pezzella is likely to come head-to-head with Denzel Dumfries, Inter’s most cynical player by some distance. The Dutch wing back is averaging a remarkable 2.68 fouls committed per 90 minutes, significantly greater than Alessandro Bastoni’s average of 1.54 which is enough to see him in 2nd place with regards to that metric.

Alberto Grassi has averaged a more than impressive 1.77 fouls drawn per 90 this season and is fantastic value to win at least 1 on Sunday.

It’s something he’s managed in 11 of his 12 league starts to date, notably including each of his last 6 outings. Looking at his most recent 3 matches, Grassi has drawn at least 2 fouls in each, averaging 3.00 won per game over the period.

He’s most likely to struggle against Inter’s 2 forwards, Lautaro Martinez and Marcus Thuram, as the pair interchangeably drop back to link the midfield with the attack. Both are averaging over 1.3 fouls per 90 and could help facilitate this selection coming home.

While Dumfries has been Inter’s most prolific fouler, Bastoni is definitely their most consistent, having been penalised at least once in 16 separate league matches. This is made even more impressive when you consider he’s appeared in just 18.

The Italian centre-back is averaging 1.54 fouls per 90 in the league and 1.63 in the Champions League.

Lorenzo Colombo is his most likely opponent which adds further value to this selection given the forward has averaged 1.48 fouls drawn per 90 minutes, the 2nd-most of any Empoli player eligible to start.

Dimarco’s average of 2.37 shots per 90 indicates there could be value here, but he probably has more to offer in the market than that would indicate, given his aggressive positioning in recent matches for Inter.

Dimarco has fired off at least 2 shots in 12 of his 17 league starts to date including each of the last 4. Notably 1 of those 12 matches was the reverse fixture as Empoli hosted the Nerazzurri in Tuscany.

That shouldn’t come as a huge surprise given the visitors have averaged 14.7 shots conceded per game – something which will surely encourage Dimarco.

In addition to being an asset in the fouls-drawn market, we don’t expect Grassi to be an innocent bystander in this match, and he also represents excellent value in the fouls-committed market.

He’s sinned at least once in 8 out of 12 domestic starts, significantly including in 7 of his most recent 9.

Asllani is his probable combatant which merits intrigue given the Albanian midfielder has averaged 1.70 fouls drawn per 90 in the league this season.

As mentioned, Asllani has proved himself a real asset in the fouls-drawn market, as evidenced by his average of 1.70 won per 90 minutes.

That said he’s only racked up 420 minutes in the league so it’s worthwhile to look at his form in previous seasons and in other competitions.

Last season, Asllani averaged 2.22 fouls won per 90 in Serie A showing his longevity over time. This season, Asllani’s consistency in the market has even extended into the international breaks, with the midfielder averaging 2.67 fouls won per game in the Nations League.

Cacace has been unpredictable in the shots market this season but there’s hardly been much he could do about it given he’s been shifted around positionally, operating as an attacking midfielder, winger, centre-mid, wing-back, and even centre-back.

That said, he’s still maintained an average of 1.70 shots per 90 and is predicted to start in midfield against Inter, representing strong value.

He’s fired off at least 1 shot in each of his last 7 league starts, having 3 cracks at goal, 1 of which found the back of the net, most recently as Empoli took on Lecce.

Inter’s games tend not to be particularly corner-intensive with the Nerazzurri’s matches averaging no more than 8.75. Even this is disproportionately affected by 2 crazy games against Juventus and Lecce which combined for a remarkable 34 corners. In the absence of these matches, their games have averaged a mere 7 corners taken.

Empoli’s matches also fall beneath the 10.5 threshold, albeit marginally, averaging 10.35 corners per game. The last time they faced off with Inter, they managed just 1 corner all game, although Inter themselves only managed to hit back with 4, although it won’t have bothered them given they coasted to a 3-0 win.