After contrasting starts to the Serie A season, Sassuolo and Sampdoria go head to head on Sunday at the Mapei Stadium.
While last week the Neroverdi were victorious in Verona, Samp fell to an opening-day defeat against Milan at Marassi.
Match preview
© Reuters
Following their highly-rated manager's departure for pastures new over the summer, Sassuolo fans may have feared that they would struggle to continue the Emilian club's excellent progress over the past few years.
However, the Neroverdi's new era under Alessio Dionisi - who led Empoli to the Serie B title last term - got underway with a win at Verona last Saturday, after Hellas skipper Miguel Veloso was red-carded in the first half.
Though Mattia Zaccagni twice drew the home side within a goal of Sassuolo, it was Dionisi's men who ultimately came away with the points after a 3-2 victory.
A club with a relatively modest history have finished in the top half of the table more often than not since joining Calcio's elite in 2014.
With successive eighth-placed finishes to live up to, Dionisi has a tall task to replicate predecessor Roberto De Zerbi's successes, but now has the opportunity to help his side win both of their first two Serie A games for only the second time in their history.
Ahead of Sampdoria's visit on Sunday, recent precedent is strongly in their favour: Sassuolo are unbeaten in their last four league games against the Ligurians and have won four of their last five home games against them too - including the two most recent Mapei Stadium clashes.
Though the beating heart of their midfield, Manuel Locatelli, chose to leave for Juventus this month, while Brazilian defender Marlon has joined De Zerbi on his new adventure in Ukraine, the Neroverdi have so far retained their Azzurri attacking trio of Francesco Caputo, Giacomo Raspadori and Domenico Berardi, so still have the weapons to put Samp to the test this weekend.
© Reuters
After starting life under new coach Roberto D'Aversa with a 3-2 Coppa Italia win over Alessandria earlier this month, Sampdoria got their league campaign off to a losing start on Monday, as they were narrowly edged out by AC Milan at Marassi.
The Blucerchiati threatened Mike Maignan's goal on a number of occasions, and the visitors were left hanging on for the final whistle in the end, but they ultimately went down to a 1-0 loss in their opening fixture.
Nonetheless, D'Aversa later stated his contentment with his new team's performance and praised a lineup containing Danish livewire Mikkel Damsgaard and evergreen striker Fabio Quagliarella for their endeavour in defeat.
The former Parma coach's predecessor Claudio Ranieri often stated his points target throughout last year, which his side eventually achieved, and D'Aversa has followed that trend by demanding his men improve on the 52 points tallied in 2020-21 - which proved enough for a ninth-placed finish.
Throughout the last 35 Serie A seasons, Sampdoria have lost their first two league games only three times, but two of those slow starts came in each of their last couple of campaigns. The Ligurians will therefore be intent on reversing that trend this term, by taking at least a point home from Sassuolo.
Having already got off the mark in the cup, captain Quagliarella will be looking to score for the 17th straight season in the Italian top flight - and has been involved in four goals in his last four league games against the Neroverdi - so is sure to be at the forefront of their efforts again.
- W
- D
- W
- W
- D
- W
- L
- W
- W
- W
- L
Team News
© Reuters
Following some first-day absences, Sassuolo are closer to full strength this weekend, as Giorgos Kyriakopoulos returns from suspension, so could start ahead of Rogerio at left-back, while Euro 2020 winner Domenico Berardi should at least be ready for a place on the bench.
As midfielder Pedro Obiang is still out injured, Alessio Dionisi has confirmed that Davide Frattesi - who spent last year on loan at Monza - will start in the centre with Maxime Lopez.
Forwards Francesco Caputo and Gregoire Defrel overcame fitness issues to take part in Verona, and they join returning target man Gianluca Scamacca and Berardi's Italy colleague Giacomo Raspadori among the impressive attacking options available to Dionisi.
Sampdoria enjoyed a clean bill of health heading into the new season, but Manolo Gabbiadini's lively start to proceedings was cut short when he went off in tears against Milan, after spraining his ankle.
The former Southampton forward fell heavily on his left leg and scans will determine whether he has suffered ligament damage which keeps him out for a long spell.
Otherwise, the starting XI which took to the field at Marassi should have a very familiar look to it, with Fabio Quagliarella set to be joined by former Inter winger Antonio Candreva and the much-admired Mikkel Damsgaard from out wide.
Valerio Verre appears to be first in line to replace Gabbiadini in providing support up front, though Gianluca Caprari is another candidate, as Samp chase their first league goals - and points - of the new season.
Sassuolo possible starting lineup:
Consigli; Toljan, Chiriches, Ferrari, Kyriakopoulos; Frattesi, Lopez; Raspadori, Djuricic, Boga; Caputo
Sampdoria possible starting lineup:
Audero; Bereszynski, Yoshida, Colley, Augello; Candreva, Thorsby, Ekdal, Damsgaard; Verre, Quagliarella
We say: Sassuolo 2-2 Sampdoria
Sassuolo's current options in the final third would be the envy of several higher-ranked sides above them in the hierarchy, and their talented attackers should ripple the net again on more than one occasion against Sampdoria.
The visitors, though, were unlucky not to open their account against Milan, and their energetic wingers can put the Neroverdi's wandering full-backs to the test.
Top tip
Jonathan O'Shea
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 Sassuolo win with a probability of 51.38%. A win for Sampdoria had a probability of 25.02% and a draw had a probability of 23.6%.
The most likely scoreline for a Sassuolo win was 2-1 with a probability of 9.69%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-0 (9.67%) and 2-0 (8.44%). The likeliest Sampdoria win was 1-2 (6.37%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (11.09%). The actual scoreline of 0-0 was predicted with a 5.5% likelihood.
