After a terrible showing against Real Madrid midweek Anotnio Conte is struggling to maintain some momentum in the league. Unfortunately his side is on their way to face Sassuolo in a cursed fixture. Match tomorrow, Saturday at 15:00 CET.
Roberto De Zerbi’s Sassuolo are in red-hot form. The Neroverdi from Emilia-Romagna are this season’s surprise package so far. Playing De Zerbi’s fluid attacking football, and benefiting from the third full season under the manager’s tutelage, Sassuolo feel like they could be onto something big this season.
Along with visitors Inter, Sassuolo hold the record for joint top scorers in the league. With Domenico Berardi, Francesco Caputo and Jeremy Boga in the form of their lives, it’s no small wonder that Sassuolo have managed to score in all but one of their league matches.
Inter’s defensive woes will be put on full display here against Sassuolo, and if they have any desire to take something away from this match Conte must have his entire team defend as a complete and balanced unit, from Romelu Lukaku all the way through to Samir Handanovic.
Conte’s Inter must really transform themselves quickly into the complete and rediscover their defensive form side of last season. There can be no more calamitous errors at the back that gift opponents goals. Possibly more importantly, Inter need to be more clinical when in front of goal. This might be a strange desire, seeing that Inter are joint top scorers, but one can only imagine how much better their record would be if they had a higher conversion rate.
This match may well be a bellwether for the remainder of the season. If Inter want to put their miserable midweek in the rear-view mirror, they really must pick themselves up and take the match to the hosts.
Team News
Other than the understandable fatigue that comes with playing a match every three days for three months straight, Conte has most of his players fit and available for selection; even Stefano Sensi will be available for squad selection.
Probable Line-up (3-4-1-2): Handanovic (C); Skriniar, De Vrij, Bastoni; Hakimi, Vidal, Brozovic, Perisic; Barella; Lautaro, Lukaku
Stats
Last Season: Sassuolo 3 – 4 Inter.
Last 10 Head to Head: Sassuolo hold a ridiculous 7-2 record over Inter in their last ten matches. The only saving grace is that Inter’s two wins were away at the Mapei staduim.
Keep an Eye on:
Marcelo Brozovic: With Arturo Vidal’s implosion midweek and Roberto Gagliardini in his usual miserable form, Brozo’s recovery from the Rona and reentry into the side will be very welcome. The Croatian midfielder has finally tested negative and will seemingly be available for the Sassuolo match.
Officials
Referee: Massimiliano Irrati.
Assistants: Fiorito and Baccini.
Fourth Official: Ghersini.
VAR: Chiffi and Valeriani.
Prediction & Concluding Remarks
Prediction & scorers: Sassuolo 3 – 1 Inter Lukaku to claw one back for the visitors.
Concluding remarks: Considering how things are going in the Inter camp at the moment, it is difficult to see the visitors taking anything away from this match.