Our prediction for this Coppa Italia match:
Buoyed by a 3-0 win over Empoli, AC Milan will look to give fans yet another reason to celebrate when they take on Sassuolo in the Coppa Italia last 16. The Rossoneri faced no difficulties against the Azzurri, but they do not want to stop now. Even though head coach Paulo Fonseca is expected to mix the squad, home win should be considered as Rafael Leao and Co. have been showing signs of improvement of late. Leao should be rested in Tuesday’s clash, with Samuel Chukwueze likely to step up.
Tammy Abraham is pushing for a start as well, while the likes of Luka Jovic, Ismael Bennacer, and Alessandro Florenzi remain in the recovery room. The Neroverdi, on the other hand, are on a four-game winning run in the Italian second tier. As Sassuolo are fully focused on the Serie B, we are tempted to put our money on Paulo Fonseca’s men. Both Josh Doig and Andrea Ghion should miss out with injuries for the away team.
Highlighted Player (Christian Pulisic):
Christian Pulisic is an American professional footballer who plays in the English Premier League with Chelsea. Born in Pennsylvania on the 18th of September, 1998, the talented midfielder joined Brackley Town's youth setup in 2005. He then went on to feature for Michigan Rush and PA classics before being recruited by Bundesliga outfit Borrusia Dortmund in February 2015.
Impressed with the rate of his progression at their academy, BVB integrated the teenager into their first team over the winter break. On the 30th of January, 2015, Pulisic made his professional debut at the age of 17, coming on as a substitute in Dortmund's 2-0 home win against Ingolstadt in the league. He then went on to score his first professional goal three months later in a 3-0 league win over Hamburger SV. Before joining English club Chelsea in 2018, Pulisic played a total of 4 seasons at Dortmund, three of which were as a full-time player and the last one on loan from the Blues.
The 21-year-old is now back at Chelsea for the 19/20 season and is currently on a contract that expires in 2024. Pulisic's club career honors include winning the 16/17 DFB Pokal with Dortmund. Additionally, Pulisic initially represented the USA at the under-15 and under-17 level before getting called up to the senior squad. He made his senior debut on the 29th of March,2016, as a substitute in USA's 4-0 thumping of Guatemala in the CONCACAF World cup qualifiers.
Highlighted Team (Sassuolo):
US Sassuolo Calcio is an Italian football club from Sassuolo, state Modena in the Emilia-Romagna region. In the season 2012/2013 Sassuolo managed to promote to the Serie A before playing in the Serie B for four seasons. Sassuolo was founded in 1922 and is known for being one of the smaller teams in the Serie A.
Sassuolo hosts its home games in the Stadio Citta del Tricolore which holds a capacity for approximately 21 000 spectators. Sassuolo is also known as i Neroverdi and plays at home in black and green. The biggest achievements in the club history were in 2007/2008 where the club won the Serie C1 and in season 2012/2013 were Sassuolo won the Serie B as well.
Known players in the club history are Andrea Poli, Antonio Floro Flores, Simone Zaga and Reto Ziegler.