The facts and figures ahead of Inter vs. Sassuolo

MILAN – After the win over Sampdoria, Inter return to San Siro to face Sassuolo on matchday 27 of Serie A.

In collaboration with Opta, let’s take a look at the statistics, previous encounters and other facts about the game.

INTER VS. SASSUOLO, HEAD-TO-HEAD IN SERIE A

The game to be played on Wednesday 24 June at 19:30 CEST will be the 14th match between the two teams, with Inter and Sassuolo having only drawn one of their previous 13 encounters (0-0 in January 2019), five Nerazzurri wins and seven Neroverdi successes. Among the facts linked to the history of this encounter there’s Diego Milito’s goal on 22 September 2013, which came after 63 passes in the build-up, the longest build-up for a Serie A goal in the last 15 seasons.

‘GUESS THE PLAYER’ QUIZ ANSWER

The footballer we challenged you to guess on our social media profiles was Antonio Candreva. Among the players currently in Inter’s squad, the wing-back is the one to have scored the most goals against Sassuolo in Serie A: three goals against the Neroverdi in the league, the most recent coming in December 2016 (1284 days before this match); he’s also provided six assists in the 2019/20 league season.

FORM GUIDE

Inter are unbeaten in the last seven Serie A games they’ve played on a Wednesday (6 wins, 1 draw): their last defeat on this day of the week dates back to April 2016 against Genoa. Antonio Conte’s team have won both of their last two league games at home, but the Nerazzurri have only won three in a row at home once this season in the league (back in September).

The 2009/10 season was the last time Inter had at least 57 points after 26 matchdays in Serie A (back then they managed 58 points after 26 games). That season a draw came on matchday 27, so by beating Sassuolo this current Inter side would do better than in 2009/10 in this regard.

Sassuolo have collected 32 points in the league this season, last season they had one point less (31) after 26 matches. Only once have the Neroverdi amassed more points at this stage in a Serie A season (38 in 2015/16).

GENERAL STATS

Inter’s last three Serie A goals have come in the first half, after all the previous six had been scored in the second half. The Nerazzurri have managed 18 shots both against Napoli in the Coppa Italia and Sampdoria in the league: they haven’t managed more in a match this season since 19 January against Lecce (24 in that case).

Sassuolo have conceded five of their last six goals in Serie A in the first half, and they’ve scored six of their last seven in the second half.

PLAYER FOCUS

In the previous encounter this season, both Lautaro Martínez and Romelu Lukaku scored their first braces in Serie A, and they’ve now managed to both score in six different matches. The Belgian is the fourth Inter player to have scored at least 18 goals in his first Serie A season over the last 30 years, following Milito in 2009/10, Ronaldo in 1997/98 and Ruben Sosa in 1992/93.

Marcelo Brozovic made his Serie A debut in February 2015 against Sassuolo.

Stefano Sensi played his first 61 games in Serie A whilst wearing Sassuolo’s shirt, scoring five goals for them. 28 of those Neroverdi matches came under De Zerbi’s management (in which he scored twice).

Eight of Sassuolo’s last ten league goals have been scored by either Caputo or Boga.

 THE COACHES

Antonio Conte has won all three of his matches as a coach against Sassuolo in Serie A, with an aggregate score of 11-4. The Nerazzurri coach won his only previous Serie A coaching encounter against Roberto De Zerbi, 4-3 in the previous fixture this season. Roberto De Zerbi has faced Inter four times in Serie A: one win, one draw and two losses.

SUSPENDED AND THOSE ON A TIGHTROPE

SUSPENDED

Inter: none

Sassuolo: Marlon (1)

ONE BOOKING AWAY FROM SUSPENSION

Inter: Conte (coach), D’Ambrosio, Vecino

Sassuolo: Berardi, Djuricic, Magnanelli, Obiang, Peluso