User Review
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At the start of the season, no football betting guide would have predicted that going into round 10 of the Serie A championship, little Sassuolo would be higher in the classification than Wednesday’s visitors Juventus.
SASSUOLO BECOME THE SURPRISE PACKAGE OF THE SEASON SO FAR
With a squad primarily made up of Italian players, Sassuolo have been a breath of fresh air this season. Under the tutelage of former Roma player Eusebio Di Francesco, the team from Emilia-Romagna proudly sit in sixth place in the current Serie A table, just five points off leaders AS Roma and three ahead of Wednesday evening’s high profile visitors. Still yet to be beaten at their temporary home of the Mapei Stadium, the team from a town with a population of just under 42000 has already claimed the scalps of Napoli and Lazio and how they would love to make it a triple success by beating the reigning champions.
JUVENTUS FINDING CONSISTENCY AFTER STICKY START
After a dreadful start to the new campaign domestically, The Old Lady is starting to awaken from her slumbers and is currently unbeaten in her last five outings in all competitions. Coach Massimo Allegri has bad memories of the Mapei Stadium, having been dismissed as coach of Milan after a dramatic night in January 2014 when his team threw away a two goal advantage, finally going down 4-3. On the positive side however, confidence is returning to the giants from Turin and Allegri stated at his pre-match press conference on Tuesday that the next two months up leading up to the Christmas break will be key for his side’s season. They are currently priced on the best online sports betting sites at *3.75 to retain their crown.
TEAM NEWS
Sassuolo will be without first-choice goalkeeper Andrea Consigli, who is serving a one-match suspension after being sent-off in the 2-1 defeat against Milan on Sunday. The player who came on to replace him at the San Siro, GianlucaPegolo will once again deputise. Young defender Luca Antei is still a couple of weeks from recovering from his current injury lay-off and former Napoli striker Antonio Floro Flores looks set to get the vote up front ahead of Nicola Sansone.
Allegri is unable to call upon Roberto Pereyra and Asamoah for Wednesday’s tricky encounter, as both are suffering from thigh injuries. Swiss defender Stephan Lichtsteiner is still unavailable after having an operation to cure breathing difficulties. Uruguay defender Martin Cáceres has been forgiven by the club for his drink driving incident, but having picked up an injury playing for his country recently, looks set to sit this one out.
PROBABLE STARTING XI’S
Sassuolo (4-3-3) Pegolo; Peluso, Cannavaro, Acerbi, Vrsaljko; Duncan, Magnanelli, Missiroli; Floro Flores, Defrel, Berardi
Juventus (3-5-2) Buffon; Chiellini, Bonucci, Barzagli; Alex Sandro, Pogba, Marchisio, Khedira, Cuadrado; Morata, Dybala
HEAD TO HEAD
Sassuolo have never beaten Juventus in their history, with last season’s corresponding fixture ending in 1-1 draw. Juventus have only won once away from home this season, against Genoa in mid-September. They have however, visited three of their main title rivals already, Roma, Napoli and Inter, leaving empty handed from the first two and escaping from the San Siro with a point in their last outing away from Turin.
*MATCH BETTING
Sassuolo 4.60 Draw 3.60 Juventus 1.75
*odds courtesy of bwin
Steve Mitchell (@barafundler)