Sassuolo vs Inter – Preview and Prediction

Despite witnessing two 7-0 wins over Sassuolo, Inter’s support isn’t overly excited at the prospect of travelling to the Mapei Stadium.

The Neroverdi’s Reggio-Emilia home is, after all, the scene of two incidents best forgotten in a hurry, whether it was Mauro Icardi facing down some unreasonable Ultras (an incident he quoted in his recent autobiography), or last season’s tame surrender inside of 39 minutes, Roberto Mancini’s men mailing it in to the tune of three goals conceded.

And yet, Sassuolo aren’t exactly having it large, so to speak. The defence is a bottom-five sieve, while injuries have been a blight for a squad forced to start the season three weeks early in order to face Luzern in the Europa League.

Worryingly, Coach Eusebio Di Francesco has never used the same formation twice in Serie A this season. Alfred Duncan and Simone Missiroli have started a combined nine games, while stalwart Paolo Cannavaro is 35 and is gradually ceding ground to Luca Antei. And don’t even get Domenico Berardi’s fantasy football owners started, the Calabrian star AWOL as of Week 2.

It’s hard to work out whether the Emilians are really as bad as we make out. They are, after all, retooling this season, making last-minute defeats (Sampdoria) and gremlins (the defending in Bilbao) understandable. The likes of Lorenzo Pellegrini, Federico Ricci, Luca Mazzitelli, Pol Lirola, Stefano Sensi and Matteo Politano either played for someone else last season or didn’t start more than 15 league games for the Neroverdi. They’ll get better.

Not winning a Serie A game in nearly two months was bad, but it included a tie with Atalanta, Napoli, facing both Roman sides and Sampdoria.

The crisis is now worse than ever before, missing Berardi, Politano, Francesco Magnanelli, Duncan, Davide Biondini, Marcello Gazzola, Lorenzo Pellegrini, Emanuele Terranova, Timo Letschert and possibly Cannavaro too. Add to that Federico Peluso’s suspension and they’ll barely have enough for a starting XI.

Moreover, their opponents are hardly invincible, Inter looking solid (ish) in a messy 3-4-2-1 last week, a formation which only seemed to confirm the urgency of putting Felipe Melo, Yuto Nagatomo and Rodrigo Palacio out to pasture as quickly as possible. It could well be that Stefano Pioli has consigned himself to using three-at-the-back to help the ageing Joao Miranda, or to solidify a team that can neither defend, nor see a result through without panicking.

Keep an eye on: Marcelo Brozovic (Inter) – Think Wanda Nara is an irritating agent? Try Miroslav Bicanic, who represents a certain Marcelo Brozovic. His frankly over-the-top rhetoric got on many a fan’s nerves this summer, making his clients sound like they were the second coming of Johan Cruyff. And yet, the man has a point! Brozovic was one of the Nerazzurri’s best in the last six-seven games. The opening goal he scored against Genoa was a work of art. One caveat, the 24-year-old went through a purple patch this time last year, too. Let’s hope he doesn’t disappear afterwards.

Form Guide: Sassuolo (L L D W L) Inter (W D W L W)

Last season: Sassuolo 3-1 Inter

Stat fact: These sides have never shared the spoils, as Inter won the first three – scoring 15 goals and conceding none – followed by three consecutive Sassuolo victories.

Top Tip: Goals. You can’t trust either of these teams to keep a clean sheet, and Mauro Icardi could well eat Luca Antei alive. Cristian Dell’Orco is 22, has played only 56 minutes this season, and gets to face Ivan Perisic.

Sassuolo (probable): Consigli; Lirola, Antei, Acerbi, Dell’Orco; Mazzitelli, Sensi, Missiroli; Ricci, Defrel, Ragusa

Suspended: Peluso

Inter (probable): Handanovic; D’Ambrosio, Miranda, Murillo; Biabiany, Joao Mario, Brozovic, Nagatomo; Candreva, Icardi, Perisic