Dimarco: no goals yet, but 4.81 key passes per 90

The third name in the player of the day rotation is Federico Dimarco, 28, Italian, D (defender) for Inter, priced at 33 credits in the FantaTB list: none of the 220 defenders on the list costs more, his price sits in the 100th percentile. What the numbers show today is a small paradox: in four rounds he has not scored and has provided a single assist, yet per 90 minutes he shoots and delivers dangerous balls more often than in the season of 7 goals and 16 assists.

The 2025-26 Serie A season is still his benchmark: 35 appearances, 30 as a starter, 2,704 minutes, 7 goals and 16 assists. Inside those numbers are 96 key passes, 46 total shots with 22 on target, 1,454 passes at 83.0% accuracy, 50 tackles and 31 interceptions, 3 yellow cards and no red. His API-Football average rating for that season, weighted by appearances, is 7.42: for a defender that is top-tier territory.

This season he has 4 appearances, 3 as a starter, 262 minutes: above the 180-minute threshold we require for per-90 numbers, so the comparison holds, even if the sample is four matches. Key passes rise from 3.20 to 4.81 per 90 minutes (+50.5%), total shots from 1.53 to 2.40 (+57.1%), passes from 48.39 to 57.02 (+17.8%), with accuracy moving from 83.0% to 86.0%. On the other side, assists fall from 0.53 to 0.34 per 90 (-35.5%) and goals from 0.23 to zero: chance creation is up, the finishing touch is not.

The way he occupies the pitch has changed too, always comparing the 2,704 minutes of last Serie A season with the 262 of this one: duels drop from 5.69 to 4.12 per 90 minutes (-27.6%) and fouls committed collapse from 1.36 to 0.34 (-74.8%), with no bookings so far. This is a Dimarco less involved in the scrap and more devoted to build-up, which for a 33-credit wing-back is not bad news.

The FantaTB fantasy ratings, which we calculate ourselves and which are not a newspaper's marks, describe him like this: average rating 6.50, fantasy average 6.75, estimated starting share 70%, 4 rated appearances, no goals and one assist. His last four FantaTB fantasy ratings are 6.0 on matchday one, 7.0 on the second, 8.0 on the third, 6.0 on the fourth: no slumps and one peak. That fantasy average puts him in the 88th percentile among the 137 defenders on the list who have the figure, his estimated starting share in the 76th among 220.

The team context helps. Inter are second with 12 points from 4 rounds, four wins out of four, 13 goals scored and 6 conceded, one clean sheet. They keep the ball 66.0% of the time, take 25.0 shots per game with 8.0 on target and produce 2.61 xG per game: that is the team's xG, not the player's, measured over 3 of the 4 matches with full statistics. Matchday 5 takes them to Rome, on Saturday 19 September at the Stadio Olimpico, against the leaders: the same 12 points, the same four-win run, but 3 clean sheets out of 4 and only 0.62 xG conceded per game (over 3 of the 4 matches with statistics). For a player who lives on crosses and key passes, it is the toughest test of this start.

On availability, our data flag no injury and no suspension. Ten days ago a Sky Sport rumour, which remains a rumour, had him missing the Champions League tie against Real Madrid while describing him as fit: since then he has kept playing in the league. For matchday 5 his probability of starting is 70% (a starter in 2 of the last 3, once off the bench), and he is in the projected line-up at 61%, with a flagged battle against Y. Bisseck at 42%. Whoever owns him is not buying goals: they are buying a defender who plays close to the box, creates chances and keeps the average high. With these numbers an assist may come soon; expecting it at the Olimpico, against the meanest defence he has faced so far, is another matter.