Sassuolo-Napoli is a Week 21 Serie A rescheduled match and is played Wednesday at 6 p.m.: odds, predictions, live TV, streaming.
If the draw with Barcelona in the first leg of the round of 16 of the Champions League had hinted at a possible breakthrough, the one with Cagliari last Sunday again threw Napoli fans into utter despondency. Having taken the lead through Osimhen – the second goal in two games for the Nigerian striker who has missed the last month and a half because of the African Cup of Nations – the partenopei let themselves be pegged back by the rossoblù as time practically expired (1-1).
Angolan Luvumbo took advantage of a Juan Jesus mistake, preventing Francesco Calzona’s men from getting back to winning ways in the league. Since mid-December, the Italian champions have only gotten the better of Salernitana and Verona, two teams currently fighting not to relegate, both of which they beat with difficulty. In the last three days Napoli has barely picked up two points and has even slipped to -11 from fourth place, occupied by Bologna. The new coach, who took over a week ago from the exonerated Mazzarri, has yet to make an impact. And in the post-Cagliari interview he limited himself to saying that Napoli’s is a mental problem first and foremost. But now, if he wants to keep alive the flame of hope in view of the Champions League, the Azzurri cannot fail the match with Sassuolo, postponed last January because of Di Lorenzo and his teammates’ commitments in the Italian Super Cup. The neroverdi are in a black crisis: the defeat to Empoli (2-3) last Saturday convinced the management to remove coach Alessio Dionisi from his post.
Emiliano Bigica, promoted from the Primavera team, took his place. The Emilians in 2024 beat only Fiorentina and plummeted to third-last position, which they share with Cagliari and Verona.
Sassuolo-Napoli: the latest lineup news
Bigica will maintain Dionisi’s tactical set-up, thus confirming the 4-2-3-1. News in midfield, where it will be Lipani who will take the place of the disqualified Boloca and flank Matheus Henrique. In defense, on the other hand, it is a ballot between Pedersen and the returning Toljan on who will position himself on the right out. The other duel is still on the right, but further forward, an area of the field where Volpato and Bajrami are vying for a jersey.
On the other side, Calzona is ready to revolutionize the defense. Captain Di Lorenzo returns and next to Rrahmani will be Ostigard, preferred over Juan Jesus. In midfield chances for one of the new faces, Traoré (former of the match), in attack instead the main doubt is about the condition of Osimhen, not at his best after Cagliari.
The prediction
Sassuolo has not beaten Napoli since 2020, but to trace the partenopei’s last defeat in Emilia we have to go even further back, even to 2015. The Azzurri have also won the last 4 confrontations, almost all of them with very high scores, yet today we cannot give them confidence with our eyes closed given the difficult moment. We prefer to go for goals: there is a good chance that both teams will score.
The probable formations of Sassuolo-Napoli
SASSUOLO (4-2-3-1): Consigli; Pedersen, Erlic, Ferrari, Doig; Lipani, Matheus Henrique; Volpato, Thorstvedt, Laurienté; Pinamonti.
NAPOLI (4-3-3): Meret; Di Lorenzo, Rrahmani, Ostigard, Olivera; Anguissa, Lobotka, Traoré; Politano, Osimhen, Kvaratskhelia.
POSSIBLE RESULT: 1-2
