No Clean Sheets, No Excuses: Sassuolo and Genoa Meet With Defensive Records to Forget

Sassuolo host Genoa in Serie A on Sunday 22 November 2026, and the data tells you everything you need to know before a ball is kicked. Neither side has kept a single clean sheet across their last five Serie A matches. The thing is, that is not a coincidence. That is a standards problem.

Sassuolo: Goals Are There, but So Is the Chaos

Sassuolo go into this with one win, two draws and two losses from their last five Serie A matches. They have scored nine goals in that spell, which sounds decent. They have also conceded eleven. That is unacceptable for any side that wants to be taken seriously.

Their last result before the international break tells the story. Sassuolo lost to Frosinone, conceding four goals. Listen, if you are giving four goals to Frosinone, there is something badly wrong at the back. No desire to hold a line. No accountability. The win over Juventus, where Sassuolo beat them three goals to two, shows the ability is in there. But ability without attitude gets you nowhere. Every goal they score seems to come with one going in at the other end. Both teams have scored in all five of their recent Serie A matches. All five. That is not a run of bad luck. That is a pattern.

Genoa: Three Defeats in Five and Shipping Goals at Will

Genoa arrive in worse shape. One win, one draw and three losses from their last five Serie A matches. They have conceded ten goals in that period. Ten goals in five matches is not a defensive unit. It is an open invitation.

Genoa beat Fiorentina two goals to one, which showed they can compete on their day. But that result sits between a defeat to Parma and a loss to AS Roma, where Genoa were beaten without scoring. That tells you the win over Fiorentina was the exception, not the rule. There is also a squad concern. Genoa arrive with three players carrying injuries, one of whom is not expected back until after this match. That limits their options and it matters. Depth is a basic requirement. End of.

Head to Head

There is one previous meeting between these sides in the supplied record. Genoa won it, beating Sassuolo two goals to one. Both sides scored. That fits the pattern we are already seeing across both sets of recent results. The sole head-to-head meeting averaged three goals and both teams found the net.

The Bet: Both Teams to Score

I do not do accumulators. I back one thing hard. Both teams to score is the selection here. Sassuolo have seen both teams score in every single one of their last five Serie A matches. Genoa have seen it in four of five. The one Genoa match where it did not happen was a defeat to Roma, where Genoa failed to score at all. That is the only blip in an otherwise relentless pattern of open, porous football from both sides.

The thing is, neither manager has shown they can fix a leaky defence at short notice. Sassuolo have the attacking threat to score. Genoa, even in poor form, found the net against Fiorentina and Frosinone. Put these two together and goals are coming from both ends. Back it, leave it alone, and do not be surprised when neither goalkeeper has a quiet afternoon.

Verdict

Sassuolo have a slight edge at home and will fancy their attacking options. But Genoa will not lie down. Both teams to score looks nailed on based on what the evidence shows. The clean sheet merchants these two are not.