Roma – Sassuolo

Sassuolo will resist the favourites in the encounter

Sassuolo picked up their second win in a row. Without the suspended Domenico Berardi, the Neroverdi managed a 3-2 win over Cremonese. The team took a two-goal lead at the end of the first half but almost lost three points in the second. The final point was put by Bayrami in the 92nd minute of the game. Prior to that, Dionisi's men beat Lecce narrowly, lost to Napoli, dropped points to Udinese and picked up wins against AC Milan and Atalanta. The excellent results followed a rather poor start to the team's campaign. Sassuolo lost their first three games of 2023, but then did so only once. And while a 13th place finish in the standings is not the best result, the team have been improving each time. By the way, Berardi will be available for the game in question. Roma are in a very tricky calendar. The Wolves faced Juventus on Sunday and a Europa League match against Real Sociedad awaited them on Thursday. Three days after that, there will be the reporting game, and then the return European Cup tie in Spain in four days' time. The cherry on the cake will be the Derby della Capitale, played three days after the Europa League encounter. Although Seu Jose produced victories over Torino and Imanol Alguacil's charges, the team's rotation cannot be avoided. It is the match against the Neroverdi that risks becoming a field for experimentation and a chance for the Giallorossi's reserve players. The first leg took place at the beginning of November and ended with a 1-1 draw. Interestingly, the tendency for the opponents to score in head-to-head encounters is not new. Thus, four of the last five meetings between the teams ended in a draw. Apart from that, there was Roma's 2-1 victory in September the year before last. It is worth mentioning the influence that the previous UEFA Europa League tie had on the Romans. Back then, Jose Mourinho's side played three league games that were all very close to the European competitions. The game with Lecce ended 1-1, then (between the encounters with Salzburg) there was a minimal victory over Verona, and the final point was a 2-1 defeat by Cremonese. Expectedly, the meeting with Real Sociedad is unlikely to have a positive impact on the Giallorossi's physical conditions. Sassuolo should seize on the chance to pick up another point.