The MAPEI Stadium is the venue for this upcoming Friday night clash between hosts, Sassuolo, and visitors, Benevento, in this Serie A encounter as the hosts look to lift themselves up into a possible 2nd place spot ahead of this weekend’s action in the Italian top flight.
Sassuolo have suffered just one defeat throughout this season’s Serie A campaign which came in the shape of a heavy 3-0 loss at home to current 2nd placed incumbents, Inter Milan, but otherwise Roberto De Zerbi’s side have been very difficult to beat both home and away.
The hosts have registered five wins and four draws aside from that loss and in the process have collected wins over Spezia, Crotone, Bologna, Napoli and Hellas Verona while the bigger picture shows that Sassuolo have lost just three of their last 12 matches at home in Serie A.
In addition, Sassuolo possess a solid record against their Friday night’s visitors as the hosts are unbeaten in each of their previous four meetings, winning three of these encounters, while three of these four meetings have also seen both teams score.
Onto Benevento, and the visitors have produced a reasonable start so far in this season’s Serie A campaign as they currently occupy 13th place on the Italian top flight ladder and bring a three-match unbeaten run into this Friday night clash at the MAPEI Stadium.
However, Benevento have actually picked up just one win out of their last seven matches overall in Serie A which was a 1-0 win on the road at Fiorentina, but four defeats within this seven-match sequence perhaps indicates that the visitors could be in for a tough night at the office here.
Four of these last seven matches have resulted in both teams scoring but losses to Roma, Napoli, Hellas Verona and Spezia show that Benevento have come off second best in previous tussles.
The bigger picture shows that Benevento have managed to pick up just three wins out of their last 24 matches on their travels, so the prospects of an away win here for the visitors does seem unlikely.
That said, Benevento do carry a serious goal threat in the form of dangerous attacking trio Insigne, Lapadula and Caprari, so they stand a decent chance of getting on the scoresheet.
Despite both teams scoring though, Sassuolo should get over the line here.