Sassuolo vs Roma 02/01/20

2 February 2020

The two sides that have had identical returns from their last three Serie A (SA) fixtures go head-to-head at the Mapei Stadium – Città del Tricolore, as Sassuolo tackle Roma.

The hosts have lost three of their past five SA matches (W1, D1), with three of those results (win/loss) in that sequence yielding the exact 2-1 score. The Mapei Stadium has been a venue of entertainment this season, as all ten of Sassuolo’s league home games have produced over 2.5 goals, with nine seeing both teams score. Notably, only one of those fixtures has ended in a draw (W4, L5). It will be vital for Sassuolo to break the deadlock here, as seven of their nine SA home results saw the winner on the day score the first goal. But, it will be a daunting task for ‘I Neroverdi’ to pick up three points here, as they’ve lost five of six top-flight home H2Hs with Roma, drawing a blank in all but one of those encounters.

Meanwhile, the visitors have secured just one win in their last four SA fixtures (D1, L2), with three of those clashes witnessing both teams hit the net. Arguably one of the strongest away starters in the league, ‘I Giallorossi’ have shipped the opener (if any) only once in ten SA road trips so far this season, drawing first blood in seven of the other nine. Importantly, Paulo Fonseca’s men rarely drop points when they open the scoring, having won six of seven such away outings, with the sole exception of a 1-1 draw with Lazio. Additionally, they’ve won three of their previous four SA trips (D1), scoring three or more goals in all of those successes while conceding precisely once per match in each.