Sassuolo face Hellas Verona at Stadio Marcantonio Bentegodi on Sunday afternoon looking to extend their unbeaten Serie A streak to eight games.
Meanwhile, the home side head into this fixture having put together a four-match undefeated run of their own, moving them up to eighth position in the standings.
Match preview
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When Sassuolo were held to a goalless draw by lowly Udinese before the international break, it highlighted how far the club had come since the beginning of the season.
Rather than occupying a place in mid-table, the stalemate cost Sassuolo the chance to sit at the top of the standings after seven matches.
Nevertheless, Roberto De Zerbi will hope that failing to overcome their most recent opponents will only energise a group of players who will feel that they can continue to cause surprises this season.
Although the two Milan clubs are to come before Christmas, De Zerbi and his squad will believe that there are plenty of opportunities to strengthen their position in the top six.
Francesco Caputo has been the star of the show, contributing five goals and two assists, but more is expected from Jeremie Boga who is yet to rediscover the form which enhanced his reputation last season.
At a time when Sassuolo have impressed in the final third of the pitch, Verona have been making an eye-catching impact at the other end.
Ivan Juric has witnessed his team concede just five goals this season, a record made all the more impressive with games against Juventus and AC Milan already out of the way.
Verona also avoided defeat in each of those contests, with their only official setback this season coming away at Parma on October 4.
Despite the praise being handed out to their hosts at the weekend, I Gialloblu will move level with the current second-placed side with maximum points.
Antonin Barak has scored three goals from his last two appearances, form which led to the playmaker being provided with a recall to the Czech Republic XI earlier this month.
Hellas Verona Serie A form: WLDDWD
Hellas Verona form (all competitions): LDDDWD
Sassuolo Serie A form: WWWDWD
Team News
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Verona will be without Darko Lazovic after the Serbia international recorded a positive coronavirus test.
Pawel Dawidowicz may also drop out after failing to impress against Milan, but Juric is having to work with a restricted squad due to several injuries.
Caputo is expected to miss out for Sassuolo after being forced to withdraw from the Italy squad.
Giacomo Raspadori, who is yet to find the back of the net this season, is likely to get the nod in attack.
Hellas Verona possible starting lineup:
Silvestri; Cetin, Lovato, Magnani; Ceccherini, Tameze, Ilic, Dimarco; Zaccagni, Barak; Kalinic
Sassuolo possible starting lineup:
Consigli; Santos, Ayhan, Ferrari, Rogerio; Lopez, Locatelli; Berardi, Djuricic, Boga; Raspadori
We say: Hellas Verona 1-2 Sassuolo
In a match pitting the division's best attack against the strongest backline, something has to give. Motivated by drawing a blank against Udinese, we feel that Sassuolo will come out firing on all cylinders to remain in the top two of the table.
Top betting tip
Darren Plant
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 Hellas Verona win with a probability of 39.62%. A win for Sassuolo had a probability of 36.52% and a draw had a probability of 23.9%.
The most likely scoreline for a Hellas Verona win was 2-1 with a probability of 8.58%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-0 (7.16%) and 2-0 (5.67%). The likeliest Sassuolo win was 1-2 (8.19%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (10.83%). The actual scoreline of 0-2 was predicted with a 5.2% likelihood.
