Sassuolo vs Napoli

High-flying Serie A leaders Napoli head to the Mapei Stadium – Città del Tricolore to take on a resurgent Sassuolo side.

Sassuolo fought back twice before halftime to hold Udinese to a 2-2 draw at Udinese last time out, extending their unbeaten Serie A streak to four matches (W2, D2). A sudden uplift in form steered ‘I Neroverdi’ seven points clear of the relegation zone ahead of one of the most challenging assignments in Italian football. Not only are Napoli runaway leaders, but they’ve only lost one of their 14 top-flight encounters against Sassuolo (W7, D6), highlighting the size of the task at hand. Alessio Dionisi’s side claimed a narrow 1-0 win over Atalanta in their last home league outing, snapping an underwhelming run of three straight winless matches at the Mapei Stadium (D1, L2). Ominously for Sassuolo, that success remains one of their two victories in their last 11 Serie A fixtures (D3, L6).

In the meantime, Napoli swept rock-bottom Cremonese off with a comprehensive 3-0 home win last weekend, making it six league triumphs in a row since a 1-0 defeat at Inter Milan at the turn of the calendar year. That result took Napoli’s seasonal tally to a staggering 59 points, a haul only bettered by two teams in a three-points-per-win era, with Juventus and Inter boasting 60 after 22 matches. With 15 points separating them from second-placed Inter at the start of this round, Lucian Spalletti’s men are seemingly on the verge of halting a 33-year Scudetto wait. ‘I Partenopei’ can also fall back on their near-perfect 11-game record in away Serie A fixtures this term (W9, D1, L1) as they bid to win at Sassuolo for the first time since December 2019 (D2 since).