Relegation-threatened Sassuolo will be desperate to end a four-match winning run in the league when they host Napoli and ensure they remain within a touching distance of their survival rivals. Meanwhile, the Azzurri arrive at Reggio Emilia buoyed by the Coppa Italia triumph over Roma and looking to cement the third place in the overall standings.

Nothing is lost yet

Even before the season started, Sassuolo were predicted a straight return to Serie B, but Neroverdi have so far done better than anyone could predict. Yes, they have recently slipped in the bottom three, but now nobody would be surprised if Alberto Malesani’s side do survive the current campaign. The club made some very good signings in the January transfer window, adding the likes of Paolo Cannavaro, Matteo Brighi, Sergio Floccari and Davide Biondini among others, but they have yet to put an end to a disappointing run of results. Having lost last four games to Torino, Livorno, Hellas Verona and Inter, Neroverdi clearly face a tough task against revived Napoli, but chances are they won’t be afraid to attack their more illustrious opponents. And with players like Berardi and Floccari up front, and Sansone and Zaza ready to step in, I can definitely see Sassuolo scoring on Sunday afternoon. The hosts will be without a number of important players, which is likely to damage their chances of producing an upset, but everything suggests we are going to see a highly entertaining encounter.

Aleandro Rosi misses out through suspension, whereas Terranova, Acerbi, Alexe, Masucci, Magnanelli, Manfredini and Biondini are in the infirmary.

Napoli vying for Coppa Italia trophy

Napoli have been pretty impressive most of the time this season, but they have suffered several unexpected slip-ups along the way. Considerable strength in depth seriously helped the Azzurri successfully compete in three major competitions, and while they were very unfortunate not to progress from the Champions League group of death after picking 12 points, their excellent showings were properly rewarded on other fronts. Napoli have just secured their place in the Coppa Italia final having recorded a 3-0 victory over Roma in the second semi-final leg, meaning they can now fully focus on their league campaign. With leaders Juventus already 13 points in front, it is perfectly clear the Azzurri are out of the title chase, but they have yet to secure Champions League qualification, which is why they need to continue the good run at Sassuolo. Just like their next opponents, the visitors will be without several important footballers, but the big difference is Rafael Benitez has excellent replacements for the absentees.

Gokhan Inler, Jose Callejon and Jorginho are all banned, whereas Camilo Zuniga and Giandomenico Mesto remain sidelined.

Verdict

With quite a few first team regulars unavailable, Sassuolo don’t look like they can end the barren run against in-form Napoli, but they have a good chance of scoring at least one goal. The Azzurri seem to be raising their form at the moment and they look a good bet to win in Reggio Emilia, although don’t expect them to keep a clean sheet in the process.

Top pick: Away win   1.62 (5/8) @ Paddy Power

Alternative pick 1: Both teams to score   1.78 (39/50) @ BetVictor

Alternative pick 2: Away win + both teams to score   3.25 (9/4) @ Stan James