Sassuolo vs Juventus

October 17, 2014
By: Nemanja Lazarevic

Bottom-placed Sassuolo will have a tough job on their hands when they host Serie A champions Juventus, who have yet to drop points this season. The Bianconeri enjoyed a controversial victory over title contenders Roma to create a three-point cushion at the top, and they will fancy their chances of winning in Reggio Emilia.

Yet to hit the ground running

Even if they suffered a couple of heavy defeats in the process, Sassuolo were quite impressive last season, defying the odds to match some of the best sides in the league, albeit often struggling against bottom-table sides. With the likes of Simone Zaza and Domenico Berardi gaining more confidence having starred for the Azzurri and Azzurrini respectively, the Neroverdi were expected to continue the rich vein of form, but that has failed to happen. While defeating Cittadella in Coppa Italia, Sassuolo could only take three points from first six league games, with another 7-0 defeat to Inter Milan serving as a major blow to the confidence. Eusebio Di Francesco’s side have since showed some improvement having held Sampdoria and Fiorentina to goalless draws, but back to back defeats to Napoli and Lazio proved they are nowhere near the desired form. And while the coach was happy to see Domenico Berardi rediscover his scoring form, Sassuolo will find it hard to improve their scoring record when facing a side that kept five straight clean sheets in the league before the Roma game.

Gainluca Pegolo and Federico Peluso miss out through injury and suspension respectively, but Sime Vrsaljko is back to the side.

Juventus keep 100% record intact

It was by no means easy for Max Allegri to keep his team on the right course after Antonio Conte left the post, but the former AC Milan boss has done brilliantly so far. While the Champions League defeat to Atletico Madrid remains the only under-par result of the campaign, Juventus have been absolutely impressive in all other fixtures, climbing to the top of the league standings with six wins out of six. The Bianconeri needed a bit of help from the referees to defeat Roma ahead of the international break, but they still showed a great deal of character to record a very important win by scoring the winner late in the game. That was the first Serie A match where Juventus conceded this season, but we obviously cannot expect Sassuolo to cause them too many problems at the back. The Bianconeri recorded two comfortable wins over the same opposition last season and with the team on top of their game at the moment, the trend looks set to continue. With important Champions League fixture against Olympiakos next, the visitors will want to secure the victory as soon as possible and take their foot off gas in the dying stages of the match.

Alvaro Morata is banned, while Andrea Barzagli, Martin Caceres and Romulo are out injured and Arturo Vidal is not expected to start due to a knee problem.

Verdict

Sassuolo have struggled to rediscover the form that served them so well last season and with attack, arguably their strongest weapon, not in fine working order, the hosts face a very difficult task against Juventus. The Bianconeri have won all three away games this term without conceding and chances are the great run will not end in Reggio Emilia.

Top pick: Juventus/Juventus   2.15 (23/20) @ BetVictor

Alternative pick 1: Juventus to win to nil   2.30 (13/10) @ Paddy Power

Alternative pick 2: Tevez to score anytime   2.05 (21/20) @ Ladbrokes

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