Luciano Spalletti has Juventus ticking along nicely after three games, with two wins and a draw giving them 7 points and a seventh-place berth in Serie A. The problem is the top four already look like a different competition, with Lazio, Roma, Inter and Cagliari all sitting on nine or ten points. Sunday’s trip to Sassuolo will not define Juventus’s season, but dropping points to a side ranked tenth would make the early climb even steeper. Davide Ballardini’s team, for their part, showed last week at Bologna that they can score goals and stay in games, and they have given visiting sides problems at home this season.
What’s at stake
Juventus sit seventh on 7 points after three matches, three points behind sixth-placed Como and six behind the Champions League places. Lazio lead the table on 10 points, with Roma, Inter and Cagliari all on nine. A win here would give Juventus 10 points and pull them right back into the conversation around the top six. Sassuolo, on 4 points from three games, are tenth and sitting comfortably in mid-table at this very early stage, but a home win would put them level with seventh on points and signal that Ballardini’s promoted side can compete consistently in Serie A.
For Juventus, anything other than a win starts to feel like a missed opportunity given that several teams above them have a game in hand. Sassuolo have little to fear from this one from a table perspective, but home games against the big clubs are the kind of fixtures that help shape a newly promoted side’s identity. Ballardini will know that his team have already beaten Torino at home this season, and a result here would carry far more weight.
How they got here
Sassuolo’s last five competitive outings read W-D-W-D-L, with the form across their three Serie A matches going loss at Atalanta, win over Torino, then a 2-2 draw at Bologna last weekend. That draw in Bologna came from a position of parity, and it shows a side capable of holding their own on the road but still finding clean results elusive. At home in the league, they beat Torino 2-1, so their record in front of their own fans is encouraging. Juventus arrive on the back of a 1-1 home draw against AC Milan in Matchday 3, a result that ended a run of two consecutive league wins over Frosinone and Parma. Spalletti’s side have conceded just 1 goal in their three Serie A games, which reflects a defensive solidity that sets them apart from most of the early table.
Juventus are seventh, 3 points off the Europa League playoff spot held by Como and 6 points behind the top four. Sassuolo are tenth, level on points with Udinese in eleventh and two points clear of Napoli in twelfth. Neither side is in urgent territory, but Juventus’s schedule of results gives them the better platform to push up the table if they can convert this away trip.
Key battle to watch
Sassuolo’s midfield carries real quality, with Nemanja Matic offering experience and Kristian Thorstvedt and Armand Laurienté pushing beyond him. Juventus’s engine room of Teun Koopmeiners, Douglas Luiz and Weston McKennie is built for control and forward carries, and the battle between those two units in the centre of the pitch will likely decide the tempo. If Koopmeiners can find space between the lines, Juventus’s attacking options through Kenan Yildiz, Francisco Conceicao and Randal Kolo Muani become far more dangerous. If Sassuolo’s midfield can disrupt early and keep Juventus in their own half, Ballardini’s front line has shown it can take its chances.
Key Stats
Match Context
Standings
Head To Head
Our Prediction
Juventus’s defensive record is the best argument in their favor here: one goal conceded in three league games points to an organised back line under Spalletti that Sassuolo will find hard to break. That said, the head-to-head over the last ten meetings gives Juventus six wins, suggesting they tend to handle this fixture well regardless of venue. Expect a tight, low-scoring game where Juventus’s quality in midfield eventually creates enough to take three points, though Sassuolo’s home form means this is far from straightforward.