Second meets fifth at the Mapei Stadium in Serie A on Saturday afternoon when Sassuolo take on Inter (kick-off 15:00).
PROBABLE LINE-UPS
Sassuolo (4-2-3-1): Consigli; Toljan, Ferrari, Chiriches, Rogerio; Lopez, Locatelli; Berardi, Djuricic, Boga; Raspadori.
Unavailable: Romagna, Magnanelli, Caputo.
Inter (3-5-2): Handanovic; Skriniar, De Vrij, Bastoni; Hakimi, Barella, Gagliardini, Young; Lukaku, Martinez.
Unavailable: Vecino, Kolarov, Brozovic, Pinamonti.
KEY STATISTICS
– Inter have lost seven Serie A matches against Sassuolo, against no other team have they have suffered more defeats since 2015 (also seven against Juventus).
– After a streak of four consecutive defeats against Sassuolo in Serie A, Inter haven’t lost any of their last three matches against the Neroverdi (W1 D2): they have never recorded a streak of four games in a row without losing against them.
– Sassuolo and Inter have never drawn in Serie A at Mapei Stadium (four wins for the Neroverdi, three for the Nerazzurri): against no other side have Sassuolo played more games in this stadium without a draw (also against AC Milan).
– Sassuolo (W5 D3) are one of three teams unbeaten in Serie A this season (alongside AC Milan and Juventus): only once in their history have the Neroverdi recorded a longer streak without defeat in the top flight (11 between May and September 2015).
– Inter have won 15 of their 23 away Serie A matches under Antonio Conte (D6 L2), more than any other team since the start of last season.
– Although Sassuolo (140) and Inter (126) are the teams with the most sequences with 10+ passes in Serie A this season, only 21% of these (for the Neroverdi) and 22% (for the Nerazzurri) have finished with a shot or a touch in the opponent box: four teams have a higher percentage.
– 26% of total goals in the last 30 minutes of play in Serie A this season (25/96) have been scored by Sassuolo (14) and Inter (11) combined.
– Domenico Berardi has scored in six of his last nine league matches against Inter. Among players currently in Serie A, only Zlatan Ibrahimovic (eight) has scored more goals than the Sassuolo striker (six) against the Nerazzurri in the top flight.
– Sassuolo’s Domenico Berardi is the only player to have scored 10+ goals and provided 10+ assists in Serie A in 2020 calendar year. Only three other players in the top five European leagues have achieved this target so far: Bruno Fernandes, Lionel Messi and Thomas Müller.
– In the three points for a win era, Romelu Lukaku (seven goals in 2020/21) is one of the three players that have scored at least seven goals in their first seven seasonal Serie A matches for Inter, alongside Christian Vieri (nine in 2001/02 and eight in 2002/03) and Zlatan Ibrahimovic (seven in 2007/08).
