Napoli make the trip to Sassuolo on Wednesday evening, looking to retain their three-point advantage at the top of the Serie A standings.
While Sassuolo have endured a disappointing campaign thus far, collecting four points from two games has moved Alessio Dionisi's team into 12th position.
Match preview
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Having witnessed AC Milan suffer a surprise defeat earlier in the day, Napoli went into Sunday's clash with Lazio knowing that they could re-establish their three-point lead.
That was put beyond any reasonable doubt within 29 minutes as the pacesetters went 3-0 ahead, eventually completing a 4-0 rout during the latter stages.
After ending a three-match winless streak in all competitions, Luciano Spalletti will be relieved, but the work continues for Gli Azzurri as they bid to keep their rivals at bay.
Dries Mertens is under pressure to fill the void left by the injured Victor Osimhen, and the veteran forward stepped up to the plate on Sunday with a first-half double.
Spalletti will also hope that his backline can stay on the right track after keeping their first clean sheet since October 31 at the weekend, a period stretching five games.
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At a time when Napoli have been performing above expectations, Sassuolo have been producing displays below the demands of their fanbase as they bid to challenge for a European spot.
Nevertheless, they ripped up the form book to win 3-1 against AC Milan at San Siro on Sunday, that scoreline already being established before their hosts had a player sent off.
Dionisi remains under a certain level of pressure at the Mapei Stadium, but his team have away victories at Juventus and Milan under their belt since October 27.
Now sitting just three points adrift of sixth position, Dionisi will be optimistic that his team can still get back into the mix, and another eye-catching result on Wednesday would make their rivals sit up and take note.
Domenico Berardi has scored in his last three Serie A appearances, taking his tally for the season to seven from 12 starts in the top flight.
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Team News
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Spalletti could stick with the same Napoli XI which started against Lazio, the Italian having been able to rest several key men during the second half.
However, Matteo Politano returns for the visitors having recovered from coronavirus, the playmaker likely returning to the substitutes' bench in place of Kostas Manolas who has been ruled out.
Barring any unforeseen fitness issues, Dionisi may take a similar approach when selecting his Sassuolo starting lineup.
Gianluca Scamacca, who netted a fine goal at San Siro, should keep his spot in the team despite being withdrawn after just 59 minutes.
The likes of Jeremy Toljan, Vlad Chiriches and Hamed Traore will likely have to settle for a place on the substitutes' bench.
Sassuolo possible starting lineup:
Consigli; Muldur, Ayhan, Ferrari, Kyriakopoulos; Frattesi, Lopez, Henrique; Berardi, Scamacca, Raspadori
Napoli possible starting lineup:
Ospina; Di Lorenzo, Rrahmani, Koulibaly, Rui; Zielinski, Lobotka, Ruiz; Lozano, Mertens, Insigne
We say: Sassuolo 1-3 Napoli
On the back of their terrific victory at Milan, Sassuolo head into this fixture full of confidence. Nevertheless, we cannot back against Napoli right now, the visitors having the firepower to make relatively light work of their mid-table hosts.
Top tip
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Napoli win with a probability of 56.32%. A win for Sassuolo had a probability of 22.99% and a draw had a probability of 20.7%.
The most likely scoreline for a Napoli win was 1-2 with a probability of 9.53%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 0-2 (7.29%) and 0-1 (6.84%). The likeliest Sassuolo win was 2-1 (5.84%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (8.94%). The actual scoreline of 2-2 was predicted with a 6.2% likelihood.
