Sunday brings us further action from the Italian Serie A with a top three clash between Napoli and Sassuolo at the Stadio San Paolo which may surprise a few people but both teams have produced some decent results so far in this season’s domestic top flight.
Taking a look at Napoli first and the hosts currently sit in 2nd place and just two points behind the early league leaders, AC Milan, but the hosts know that if they take all three points in this clash against Sassuolo they could be in with a decent chance of going top of the table.
Four wins out of the first five matches of this new term has given Napoli a great platform from which to build what could be a successful campaign, following victories over Parma 2-0, Genoa 6-0, Atalanta 4-1 and last weekend’s 2-1 win at Benevento.
Napoli do have a midweek date with Spanish side, Real Sociedad, in the Europa League between now and Sunday’s clash with Sassuolo, but the hosts have been impressive at home on the domestic front, winning eight of their last nine matches.
Sassuolo may also have raised a few eyebrows in the early stages of this new Serie A season as the visitors sit in 3rd spot and level on points with their Sunday’s hosts, Napoli, prior to this important clash.
The visitors still remain unbeaten to date in the Italian top flight which includes wins against Spezia 4-1, Crotone 4-1 and a 4-3 victory over Bologna and they also don’t have the distractions of Europa League involvement to contend with either.
Points picked up at home in draws with Cagliari and Torino have helped contribute to Sassuolo’s current lofty position in Serie A, and they’ve also made improvements on their travels as well having suffered just one defeat out of their last eight matches on the road.
However, that one loss was incurred against Sunday’s hosts, Napoli, in a 2-0 defeat towards the end of July and the end of last season and they don’t possess the best record against their hosts in previous exchanges.
Indeed, Napoli have won four of the previous five encounters against Sassuolo and the hosts are unbeaten in each of the previous eight meetings at home against their visitors too, so Napoli may continue their dominance this Sunday.