Conte’s men take on second place Sassuolo away from home at the Mapei Stadium on Saturday.
Sassuolo are one of three teams still unbeaten in Serie A this season, alongside leaders AC Milan and defending champions Juventus, and only once in their history have the Neroverdi recorded a longer streak without defeat in the top flight – a run of 11 games in 2015.
Inter’s recent form has caused much controversy especially in regards to Conte leading the team. The midweek loss from Real Madrid at home has put Conte’s job at risk and lost the faith of many Inter supporters.
However, despite losing hope for the Champions League, Inter are still focused on Serie A and securing their first scudetto since Mourinho’s infamous treble.
Statistics & Encounters
The two teams have met 14 times in Serie A, with the Nerazzurri’s record against Sassuolo reading as follows: five wins, two draws, seven defeats.
In seven matches at the Mapei Stadium, the teams have never played out a draw: there have been four home wins and three Nerazzurri victories.
Sassuolo’s last five matches:
Hellas Verona 0-2 Sassuolo
Sassuolo 0-0 Udinese
Napoli 0-2 Sassuolo
Sassuolo 3-3 Torino
Bologna 3-4 Sassuolo
Inter’s last five matches:
Inter 0-2 Real Madrid
Inter 4-2 Torino
Atalanta 1-1 Inter
Real Madrid 3-2 Inter
Inter 2-2 Parma
Suspensions and Team News
Roberto De Zerbi has called up 24 players for Sassuolo’s match against Inter. Caputo and Defrel won’t be involved, nor will Romagna, Ricci and Haraslin. Chiriches, Djuricic and Berardi have all been named in the Neroverdi squad.
Inter will be without Kolarov, Pinamonti, Padelli, Vecino, Brozovic and Radja Nainggolan all due to injuries.
Probable Line-Ups
Inter (3-5-2): Handanovic, de Vrij, Bastoni, D’Ambrosio, Perisic, Vidal, Gagliardini, Barella, Darmian, Lukaku, Martínez
Sassuolo (4-2-3-1): Consigli; Kaan, Chiriches, Ferrari, Rogerio; Locatelli, Lopez; Berardi, Djuricic, Boga; Raspadori
Prediction
Inter: 2
Sassuolo: 3
Sassuolo are in their best form in a long time. Their main threats remains Berardi who has managed to score 4 goals and assist 3 times in 7 matches. Whereas Conte’s men are coming back from a tough loss to Madrid and pressure from fans and management to win this match.
Conte will have to pull something special against Sassuolo who are our bogey team.