Serie A: Sassuolo Ready for Inter Test

Sassuolo vs Inter Milan

Antonio Conte’s Inter Milan take on high-flying Sassuolo at the Mapei Stadium on Saturday, and a win for the hosts would take them top of the Serie A table.

Roberto De Zerbi’s Neroverdi have stunned the football world with a brilliant start to the season which leaves them in second place, and with leaders Milan not playing until Sunday, they will reach the summit if they can overcome Conte’s Inter.

Here at SBOTOP, we expect this game to produce entertainment and goals.

And while I Nerazzurri are odds on to take all three points, that will require Sassuolo to lose their first match of the league season.

Talking Points

No Caputo, but Sassuolo still have goals in them

Roberto De Zerbi has guided his team up to second place in Serie A playing a brand of attacking football with quick passing movement and they are currently the joint top scorers in the league, alongside Inter with 20 goals.

Hellas Verona were the last team to try to cool down red-hot Sassuolo, but they succumbed 2-0.

While I Neroverdi have had a relatively kind fixture list so far, they have recently beaten Napoli, and so Inter will hold no fear for the hosts.

The hosts will be without top scorer Ciccio Caputo whose subtle movement and a sharp eye for goal have produced five goals this season.

At the age of 33, he scored on his debut for Italy last month, but he picked up a muscle strain while on international duty and is still on the treatment table.

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Serie A

De Zerbi is likely to select by Giacomo Raspadori to play alongside Domenico Berardi, who scored his fourth goal of the season in the victory over Verona.

Sassuolo have won plaudits for their passing style and with good cause as no team in the league has played as many passes this season.

One of their standout players has been 22-year-old Manuel Locatelli. The ex-Milan youth star is on the radar of a host of top European clubs — including Juventus, Barcelona, and Napoli — after playing an influential role in a team which attacks in numbers.

Conte searching for the right balance

While the mood is buoyant at Sassuolo, Inter Milan coach Conte has struggled to find the right balance in his team, which has won four of its first eight league games and laboured in the Champions League.

It doesn’t seem like there’s any way back for creative midfielder Christian Eriksen with the way things look at the San Siro, and Inter fans are wondering what has happened to the one who arrived with much fanfare a year ago.

In his time at Spurs, Eriksen created more chances and provided the most assists of any player in the Premier League.

But Conte prefers to use box-to-box players and a deep-lying midfielder, which is not a fit for Eriksen.

The Danish star has made some appearances playing in a pocket just behind the strikers but with limited success, and Conte is likely to stick with Radja Nainggolan, Arturo Vidal, and Nicola Barella in midfield, with Ivan Perisic supporting the strikers.

Romelu Lukaku has seven goals and is in third place in the race for the Capocannoniere, behind the two old stagers Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Cristiano Ronaldo and he is sure to start.

Lautaro Martinez is being pushed for the second striker’s place by Alexis Sanchez, who has made three assists already this term.

Serie A: Romelu Lukaku is expected to be on top of his form against Sassuolo — Romelu Lukaku celebrates after scoring Inter Milan’s third goal against Torino

History

The underdogs have had the better of the head-to-head meetings in recent seasons.

Sassuolo have won seven of the 14 games to Inter’s five, and there have been two draws.

Last season’s Sassuolo vs Inter Milan results yielded 13 goals in the two games.

Inter won this corresponding fixture 4-3, and then the teams played out a 3-3 draw in June, with Lukaku and Beradi both on target as two of the six goalscorers.