SASSUOLO

League position: 8th
Head coach: Roberto De Zerbi
Serie A top-scorer: Domenico Berardi, Francesco Caputo (11)

RECENT FORM

Sassuolo: D D L W L
Roma: W W L W L

Sassuolo have won just one of their last five matches in Serie A but Saturday’s hosts are unbeaten in their last three at home (W1, D2).

They may be just two places back from the visitors, but Roma’s 11-point lead is a significant one at this stage of the season - and the Giallorossi will have their sights set on things further up the table.

Defeat at home to Napoli last time out put Paulo Fonseca’s team into sixth and they have lost each of their last two in the league, without scoring.

The loss away to Parma on Matchday 27, however, was Roma’s sole defeat in their last five in all competitions on their travels (W3, D1, L1).

LAST MEETING

DANGER MAN
Jeremie Boga

De Zerbi was remarkably unfortunate to lose both of his top scorers to injury during the international break and Roma will be a bit more confident in their chances with both Berardi and Caputo sidelined.

Former Roma man Gregoire Defrel is also missing through injury, which leaves an empty looking space in attack, while Hamed Junior Traore and Boga are most likely to come into the side from the one that lost 3-2 at Torino last time out in the league.

Boga’s 30-minute cameo against Torino was his first outing since a thigh injury saw him miss five league games and the 24-year-old should feel better for an extra fortnight to step up his recovery.

In the absence of Sassuolo’s two top scorers, the onus will fall on Boga to deliver some attacking inspiration by adding to his three Serie A goals and two assists.

MATCH STATS

Sassuolo’s 4-2 win last season was their only victory over Roma from 15 previous Serie A meetings between the two, with Roma winning eight of those matches and drawing six more.

Having drawn the reverse 0-0, Sassuolo and Roma could end up sharing the spoils twice in a season for the first time.

Roma may have fired blanks in both of their last two league games, but Sassuolo have conceded in each of their previous 17 top-flight matches and stand on the brink of going 17 games without a Serie A clean sheet for the first time in their history.

On average, the Giallorossi break the deadlock after 26 minutes in 2020-21, making them the fastest out of the blocks this season and no team has scored more times than Roma (19) in the first half an hour of Serie A games this term.

PLAYER STATS

• Domenico Berardi has scored three goals against Roma in Serie A and is on 99 goals for Sassuolo but will have to wait for his century after picking up an injury during the international break.
  
• Gregoire Defrel - who played 15 times in Serie A for Roma - would have made his 100th appearance in the Italian top tier if he featured against his old club.
  
• Edin Dzeko is also one appearance away from a major landmark and will chalk up his 250th Roma appearance in his next outing.
  
• Lorenzo Pellegrini spent two seasons with Sassuolo in 2015-16 and 2016-17, scoring his very first Serie A goal in black and green against Sampdoria in December, 2015.

WHAT THEY SAID

"It'll be a tough game for both sides. After the late turnaround they suffered against Torino, Sassuolo will want to bounce back - and especially so against a side like Roma, who are still fighting for some important objectives this season."

- Antonio Parrotto, director of Sassuolonews.net