Juventus and Sassuolo first met this campaign back on the opening day of the season. The Bianconeri powered to a 3-0 win at the Allianz Stadium in mid-August, the first of 10 defeats in the opening half of the season for Sassuolo.
At the midway point, with only four wins from 19 matches, Alessio Dionisi's side were languishing just above the relegation places. However, the Neroverdi have turned their season around and are now among one of the form sides in Serie A.
THE SEASON SO FAR
Sassuolo's unbeaten run ended last weekend in stoppage time at Hellas Verona after five games without loss. Even so, only Napoli (24), Lazio (21) and Juventus (21) have collected more points than the side from Emilia (20) from the 10 matches in the second half of the season.
In fact, Dionisi's side have won three of the five home matches since the turning point, equalling the number of successes recorded in the entire first half of the campaign. Sassuolo drew their last home league match against Torino and the only defeat in this home run has come against leaders Napoli.
Sassuolo have won three of their last four Serie A meetings against opponents in the top seven positions in the table after not having achieved any victories from the previous nine, having lost seven of them. Twice the Neroverdi have come out on top in seven-goal thrillers against top-four challengers. A 5-2 thrashing of Milan preceded a 4-3 triumph over Roma, with both wins arriving outside of Reggio Emilia.
The third recent success of note was registered at home against Atalanta. The match winner was Armand Laurienté, who also scored against Milan and Roma. The French winger, in his first season in Serie A, is enjoying a 2023 to remember.
KEEP AN EYE ON...
Sassuolo is the only team this Serie A campaign to already boast two players with at least six goals and six assists: Armand Laurienté (seven goals & six winning passes) and Domenico Berardi (six goals & six winning passes).
Despite not being involved in a goal in his last three league games, Laurienté is the Sassuolo player that has been involved in the most goals this season in Serie A. The 24-year-old has shone from January onwards. Of his five goals and three assists in 2023, three goals and all three assists came in back-to-back victories over Cremonese and Roma in March.
Another player that has burst into form is Berardi. Only Victor Osimhen (14) has been involved in more goals than Sassuolo's number 10 in Serie A in 2023. However, as Coach Dionisi confirmed, Berardi will sit out Sunday's fixture because of the injury suffered last weekend that saw him to limp off at Verona.