Hellas Verona vs Sassuolo

Stadio Marc’Antonio Bentegodi is the venue as Hellas Verona and Sassuolo go head-to-head in their opening 2021/22 Serie A fixture.

After securing back-to-back top-half finishes in Serie A, Verona parted ways with ex-manager Ivan Juric and turned to Eusebio Di Francesco for the upcoming season. Di Francesco’s first task will be to bring Hellas’ dismal nine-game winless Serie A streak to a halt (D4, L5) against his former employers. However, ‘I Gialloblu’ will have to break their ‘Sassuolo jinx’ to ensure a flying start to the new season, having landed just a single point from their last five Serie A matches against this opposition (D1, L4). After being awarded a 3-0 victory over Roma in their last season’s opener, Verona will be aiming to win back-to-back season curtain-raisers in the competition for only the second time in their history, after 1983/1984. But their last three home Serie A games have all ended level.

On the other hand, Sassuolo will be fighting their own demons, as they could set an unwanted club record of three consecutive top-flight season openers without winning in case they fail to beat Verona here. Even if they fall behind early in the game, that should not trouble new manager Alessio Dionisi, considering ‘I Neroverdi’ recovered a league-high 14 points from losing half-time positions back in 2020/21 (W3, D5, L6). Notably, after winning their last three Serie A trips to Verona, Sassuolo could set a new club record with another success here as they’ve never defeated the same opposition in four consecutive away top-flight encounters. There should be enough confidence in the traveling camp as the visitors won their final four Serie A trips to conclude the 2020/21 season despite conceding on three occasions.