Opposition insight for Sassuolo-Milan: Form, injuries, predicted XI and more
Sassuolo have had a positive start under their new head coach Alberto Aquilani, who could haunt his former side AC Milan tomorrow.
The long international break is finally behind us, even if we still have to wait 24 hours to see Milan in action again. The Rossoneri will be up against Sassuolo, who have been tough opponents for them in the past, and it’s expected to be no different this time out.
Aquilani is the head coach of the Neroverdi and with seven points so far, it has been a decent start to his new gig. Whether he can come back to haunt his former side, having played for Milan in the 2011-12 season, remains to be seen.
Opposition insight on Sassuolo
➤ Manager: Alberto Aquilani ➤ Form (all comps): W-D-D-W-L (most recent) ➤ Top scorer (Serie A): Adzic – 3 ➤ Most assists (Serie A): Lauriente among others – 1 ➤ Injuries & suspensions: Ismael Kone.
Aquilani was picked up by Sassuolo in the summer after impressing with Catanzaro in Serie B. He was really unlucky not to get promoted, as Monza only won the play-offs final thanks to their initial league position. It was 2-2 on aggregate, but they prevailed anyway.
The likes of Alphadjo Cisse and Mattia Liberali were both key players for Aquilani, so his history with the club as a player isn’t the only link with Milan. Nevertheless, it certainly wasn’t a surprise that Sassuolo decided to secure his services.
On the transfer market front, the Neroverdi parted ways with their best defender last season, namely Tarik Muharemovic. He was even linked with Milan a little, but ended up joining Leeds United for more money than the Rossoneri were willing to spend.
The striker Andrea Pinamonti also departed, joining Lazio, but Sassuolo swiftly replaced him with Sebastiano Esposito on loan. As for the centre-back, no big-money replacement was brought in, but Fedde Leysen has made the spot his after joining on loan from Union Saint-Gilloise.
All things considered, it was a decent summer as Sassuolo, above all, managed to keep most of their stars. Jay Idzes, Kristian Thorstvedt, Domenico Berardi, Armand Lauriente and so on. This means that Aquilani has a pretty good squad at his disposal.
There are no injuries to note either, at least if we exclude Ismael Kone who suffered that horror injury with Canada at the World Cup. There were some concerns about the new goalkeeper, Arijanet Muric, but it turned out to be nothing.
During his press conference, Aquilani said that he has been happy with the performances of his team so far, but also made sure to highlight that they need to do better in both phases. With nine goals scored and conceded so far, it would be fair to say that the defence needs the most work.
In the most recent game, a howler from Muric and a penalty given away allowed Monza to clinch a 2-1 win, even if Sassuolo came close by hitting the post at the end. It was actually Monza’s first win of the season, so unlike Milan, the break perhaps came at a good time for Aquilani’s side.
Predicted Sassuolo XI (4-3-3): Muric; Cinquegrano, Caleta-Car, Leysen, Doig; Adzic, Matic, Thorstvedt; Berardi, Esposito, Lauriente.
Predicted Sassuolo bench: Turati, Satalino, Van der Brempt, Odenthal, Obrador, Ghion, Lipani, Bakola, Sulemana, Skjellerup, Dominguez, Pierini, Bowie.
