Connoisseurs of action-packed football will hope Sassuolo and Fiorentina can both get on the scoresheet in a fourth successive Serie A meeting. Ahead of the kick-off at the Mapei Stadium, both sides have had identical returns from their last four Serie A outings (W1, D1, L2).
While the hosts enjoy the exquisite comfort of mid-table, the visitors are hovering in the bottom half of the standings, eight points clear of relegation-threatened Cagliari.
Sassuolo prevailed in a hard-fought 1-0 victory at Benevento on Monday to bring their three-game winless streak in Serie A to a halt and keep their first clean sheet in 20 league fixtures. Before a triumphant night at the Stadio Ciro Vigorito, Roberto De Zerbi’s side had conceded at least twice in six Serie A matches on the trot on an average of 2.33 goals per game.
The Neroverdi last registered a shutout against Fiorentina in April 2018, going on to concede at least once in their subsequent five Serie A encounters. Sassuolo’s defensive woes have seen them let in 48 goals this league campaign, more than any other side from the upper half of the table.
Both teams have scored in each of Sassuolo’s last eight top-flight matches at Mapei, with six of them featuring at least three goals at full-time. Additionally, three of the last four Serie A meetings between these two sides at this venue have seen both teams score in fixtures garnering at least three total goals.
Meanwhile, Fiorentina have gone winless in three league games on the bounce (D1, L2) since winning at Benevento 4-1 in mid-March, with both of their defeats in that sequence yielding the identical 3-2 scoreline. Since the turn of 2021, the Viola have picked up only one win in seven Serie A trips (D2, L4), conceding first on four occasions in the process.
Roberto Iachini’s men struggled defensively on the road this season, shipping a league fourth-high 27 goals away from home so far. Fiorentina kept a clean sheet in their first top-flight trip to Mapei when Sassuolo earned Serie A promotion in 2013 and have since conceded at least once in all of their six league matches here.
Iachini has won just one of his last eight Serie A games in charge of Fiorentina (D3, L4) but none since being reappointed on March 21 (D1, L2).