Following their easy win against Benevento in the Coppa Italia Inter welcome eleventh place Sassuolo. The last time these sides faced off at the beginning of the season Sassuolo would win the match overall when Inter play Sassuolo they have a tendency to lose to them. Basically Sassuolo is like the kryptonite of Inter Milan. Statically they have lost to them five out of their last six matches. Coming into the match Inter have the momentum as they beat Napoli and won against Benevento Sassuolo on the other hand are coming off back to back losses. Inter will have the winning mentality going into it but it’s Sassuolo who will not go down without a fight. Due to the racist chants in the Napoli match this match will be played behind closed doors.
Inter Milan
Inter going into this match are the stronger side as they sit third in the table. They did a great job going back to the 4-2-3-1 formation in their match against Benevento where Icardi is strongest. They also played players who haven’t had a start in a long time such as left back Dalbert who majority of the season as been out due to and injury to his leg. Also they player the dynamic duo who in my opinion works better in a 4-2-3-1 formation is Brozovic and Gagliardini who has been on the bench most of the time. Also they played Ranocchia and Candreva which was a nice change. Hopefully some of these players get more starts this season as the fresh legs help every mow and again. Martinez as really stepped up in recent matches showing he is worthy of being put in a starting roll. The only player for the home side who is out with injury is Keita Balde who suffered a Bicep Femoris muscle injury hopefully he heals fast as he is finally showing his potential on the team. The key player in this match is Martniez who is good in a starting roll he is quick and agile and is a good pitch reader and is good at passing the ball along with creating and finishing chances if Sassuolo don’t contain him it will cause them issues.
Sassuolo
Sassuolo who sit in eleventh position have been the ones who dominate Inter every season. Defense wise they are good at taking the ball away from Inter and despite them not holding a high possession against them they do a great job keeping it for a decent amount of time. Also they do a solid job blocking Inter’s chances along with saving chances that get near the goal. On the offensive spectrum they do a great job creating and finishing chances through using the whole pitch to their advantage and using individual player skills as well. The key player is Berardi who is good at creating majority of their chances and if Inter don’t shut him down it can cause Inter nightmares.
The bottom line
In this match it will come down to if Inter can break Sassuolo’s streak against them. This will come down to the creating and finishing chances frequently and being able to capitalize on them. They will also need to shut down Sassuolo’s offense and keeping the ball away from them so they don’t get chances of their own. This match should be a win for Inter based on positioning in the table along with Inter being the stronger side. However if history shows us anything this match more than likely will end in a loss.
Inter projected 4-2-3-1
GK Handanovic
Def Asomah, Devrij, Skriniar, Vrsaljko
Def mid Brozovic and Gagliardini
Att Mid Perisic, Martinez, Politano
Forward Icardi
Sassuolo projected 4-3-3
GK Consigli
Def Ferrari, Lemos, Santos, Peluso
Def mid Boateng, Djuricic, Sensi
Att mid Berardi, Di Francesco, Babacar
Stadium San Siro
Place Milan Italy
Date January 19th
Time 1:30pm USA 7:30pm UK 8:30pm Italy
