Overview
Inter Milan's Scudetto conquest journey continued smoothly last week, when they overcame declining Cremonese thanks to goals from captain Lautaro Martinez and midfielder Piotr Zielinski.
That was the third consecutive victory in all competitions, after Nerazzurri successively defeated Pisa 6-2 and Borussia Dortmund 2-0. The victory over Dortmund also helped Inter qualify for the Champions League play-offs, where they will face Bodo/Glimt at the end of this month.
Both nurturing ambitions to go deep in Europe and closely following the Serie A championship goal, Inter continues to take another step in the domestic arena when reaching the semi-finals of the Coppa Italia. Despite rotating some key players, coach Cristian Chivu's team still defeated Torino 2-1 in the match taking place in Monza, thereby facing Napoli or Como in the top 4 strongest teams.
Now, before the Derby d'Italia with Juventus next week, Inter must travel to Reggio Emilia with the goal of extending their impressive away form. Nerazzurri have won all 7 recent away matches in Serie A, thereby equalizing one of their best away wins in modern times.
However, this challenge is not easy at all, because Sassuolo often causes difficulties for Inter in the past. Neroverdi has won 10 out of 23 encounters between the two teams in Serie A, although in the first leg this season they lost 1-2 right at San Siro.
Returning to the top league after a year of absence, Sassuolo is in the middle of the table with 29 points and just had a 3-1 victory away from Pisa. In that match, Domenico Berardi opened the score with a beautiful goal right in the first half, laying the foundation for 3 full points.
That result helped Fabio Grosso's team win 2 consecutive victories in Serie A for the first time since October, after a worrying period with 3 consecutive defeats. The former Inter defender will now host his old team at Mapei Stadium with the goal of creating a surprise and winning Sassuolo's fifth home win this season.
Personnel situation
Cristian Chivu made some significant personnel changes in the victory against Torino. However, it is likely that the starting lineup this weekend will return to a more familiar framework.
On the left flank, Federico Dimarco will reappear in the wing-back role. However, Inter is still missing some regular key players such as Denzel Dumfries, Hakan Calhanoglu and Nicolo Barella. Positive news is that Carlos Augusto is expected to return after missing the last 2 matches.
This match also witnessed a remarkable confrontation between two strikers in the top 10 players with the most goals for a club in Serie A. Inter captain Lautaro Martinez of Inter (128 goals) and Domenico Berardi of Sassuolo (127 goals) are both expected to start.
On the home side, Berardi is likely to join Armand Lauriente to support center forward Andrea Pinamonti, who used to play for Inter.
On the other side, Sassuolo still does not have the long-term services of Edoardo Pieragnolo and Fali Cande due to injury, while the possibility of Daniel Boloca (knee) playing is still open.
Expected lineup:
Muric, Walukiewicz, Idzes, Muharemovic, Doig, Thorstvedt, Matic, Kone, Berardi, Pinamonti, Lauriente.
Inter Milan: Sommer, Bisseck, Akanji, Bastoni, Henrique, Sucic, Zielinski, Mkhitaryan, Dimarco, Thuram, Martinez.
The match between Sassuolo and Inter Milan takes place at 0:00 AM on February 9th (Vietnam time).
