Inter Milan will be looking to build upon their weekend Serie A victory over Sampdoria when they welcome Sassuolo to the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza on Wednesday evening.
In contrast, Sassuolo are searching for their first points since the restart as their return to action was marked by a dismal 4-1 defeat against a high-flying Atalanta side.
Match preview
© Reuters
Inter had already taken part in the Coppa Italia before the resumption of Serie A last week, but Antonio Conte's side bowed out at the semi-final stage to eventual winners Napoli following a three-month hiatus.
I Nerazzurri managed to put their cup disappointment behind them as goals from Romelu Lukaku and Barcelona-linked Lautaro Martinez gave Inter a narrow 2-1 win over Sampdoria on Sunday evening.
That result leaves Conte's side sitting third in the table on 57 points, despite picking up zero points from a possible six against Lazio and Juventus before play was brought to a halt.
Nevertheless, I Nerazzuri only tasted defeat once in their last 24 Serie A matches prior to that, and they are comfortably on course for their best finish since 2011.
Conte's side are five points adrift of Lazio and six clear of Atalanta at this stage of the campaign, so consolidating a spot in the top three will no doubt be their priority as the race for the Champions League places hots up.
© Reuters
The coronavirus-enforced shutdown could not have come at a worse time for Sassuolo, who were beginning to string an impressive set of results together in the Italian top flight.
Roberto De Zerbi's side enjoyed four victories from six before the country was placed under lockdown, but they faced a difficult first game back against Atalanta and were comfortably swept aside 4-1 by the top-four hopefuls on Sunday.
The defeat means that Sassuolo drop one place down to 12th in the table, but their tally of 32 points means they are seven points clear of the relegation zone as things stand.
Coincidentally, seven points also separates De Zerbi's side from the European places, and a top-half finish is certainly a realistic expectation for Sassuolo if they can start to perform like they did before the enforced suspension.
I Neroverdi have finished 11th on 43 points for the last two seasons, so any improvement on that would constitute a successful campaign for this Sassuolo team.
Inter enjoyed a thrilling 4-3 victory when the sides last locked horns in October, with Martinez and Lukaku both netting twice in that fixture.
Inter Milan Serie A form: DWWLLW
Inter Milan form (all competitions): LWWLDW
Sassuolo competition form: DWWLWL
Team News
© Reuters
Conte is facing an injury crisis in midfield with Matias Vecino, Stefano Sensi and Marcelo Brozovic all set to miss out in midweek.
Experienced defender Diego Godin is in contention to feature from the opening whistle, having shaken off a niggling injury during the lockdown period.
Manchester United loanee Alexis Sanchez is also back in the fold and battling for a start, but Conte is expected to stick with the strike partnership of Lukaku and Martinez once again.
Sassuolo will have to make do without right-back Jeremy Toljan, who was forced off at half-time in the defeat to Atalanta.
The German will join fellow defenders Filippo Romagna and Marlon Santos on the sidelines, with the latter having picked up his fifth booking of the season last time out.
Santos's absence opens up a spot for Gian Marco Ferrari to partner Federico Peluso in the heart of De Zerbi's defence.
Inter Milan possible starting lineup:
Handanovic; Skriniar, De Vrij, Godin; Candreva, Barella, Gagliardini, Biraghi; Eriksen; Martinez, Lukaku
Sassuolo possible starting lineup:
Consigli; Muldur, Ferrari, Peluso, Kyriakopoulos; Obiang, Locatelli; Berardi, Djuricic, Boga; Caputo
We say: Inter Milan 3-1 Sassuolo
Sassuolo have plenty of attacking players who are capable of causing problems for Inter, but Conte's side are expected to have too much quality for their opponents and we cannot see anything other than a comfortable home win.
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 Inter Milan win with a probability of 63.82%. A draw had a probability of 20.2% and a win for Sassuolo had a probability of 15.93%.
The most likely scoreline for a Inter Milan win was 2-0 with a probability of 10.68%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-0 (10.3%) and 2-1 (9.92%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (9.56%), while for a Sassuolo win it was 0-1 (4.61%). The actual scoreline of 3-3 was predicted with a 1% likelihood.
