Our prediction for this Serie A match:
Following a thrilling 3-3 draw with Lazio, Empoli will look to record their first win of the year when they take on Sassuolo at Stadio Carlo Castellani on Sunday. The Azzurri have been scoring goals for fun of late, and they are likely to adopt yet another attack-minded approach. Both Luperto and Bandinelli are out of contention through suspension, while Haas and Parisi miss out with injuries.
The Neroverdi, on the other hand, played out a 1-1 draw with Genoa in their last league fixture, with the team failing to turn their dominance into winning goal. Since Sassuolo look sharp in front of goal as well, we believe that punters from all four corners of the world can find value in betting on both teams to score. Traore is on international duty with Ivory Coast, while both Djuricic and Matheus Henrique are sidelined with injuries. Both Goldaniga and Peluso have been tested positive for coronavirus.
Highlighted Player (Vlad Chiriches):
Vlad Iulian Churches had an unusual path to the biggest stage, spending some time at the Benfica youth academy before returning to Romania to start his professional career at International. The central defender arrived to Steaua Bucuresti via Pandurii Targu Jiu and he needed just a year and a half to secure a big club move.
After snubbing a number of offers from Italian Serie A, Chiriches joined Tottenham Hotspur in the summer of 2013, becoming Steaua’s record transfer in the process. However, the Romania international did not enjoy the best of starts to his career in England and he was sold to Napoli after two somewhat disappointing seasons at White Hart Lane.
Chiriches has struggled for playing time at Stadio San Paolo as well, and he will probably need to play on regular basis if he is to realise his full potential. Meanwhile, the powerful defender remains an important member of the Romania national team, having earned more than 40 caps for the Tricolorii since making his debut in 2011.
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.