Sassuolo's Defensive Crisis Laid Bare as Napoli Come Calling

Some problems in football are complicated. This is not one of them. Sassuolo are a team in freefall and Napoli are coming to town on Sunday. You do not need much more than that.

The State of Sassuolo

Four losses and a draw from their last five Serie A matches. Fifteen goals conceded in that same run. Zero clean sheets. The thing is, those numbers do not lie and they do not care about excuses.

Sassuolo drew 1-1 with AC Milan and that is the best thing you can say about their recent form. After that came a 1-2 home defeat to Monza, a 2-4 loss to Frosinone, a 0-2 defeat to Como, and then a 2-6 hammering at the hands of Lazio. A 2-6 scoreline. That is not a bad day. That is a standards problem.

Listen, a team that concedes six goals in a single match has lost the plot at the back. The basics are gone. The desire to defend as a unit, to make it hard for the opponent, to compete for 90 minutes. All of it. Until someone at that club holds the players accountable for what is happening on that pitch, nothing will change. End of.

What Napoli Bring

Napoli are not perfect and I will not pretend otherwise. They lost to Venezia, drew 1-1 with Fiorentina and drew 3-3 with AS Roma. When you concede three to Roma you have your own defensive questions to answer.

But the attacking output is there. Eleven goals scored in their last five Serie A outings. A 4-1 win over Monza. A 3-0 win over Frosinone. Napoli know how to put a ball in the net and they are facing a side that has been unable to stop anyone from doing exactly that.

Their injury list is long. Several players are currently sidelined across a range of severities. That is context worth noting. But even a patched-up Napoli squad has the attitude and the quality to punish what Sassuolo are serving up right now.

The Bet

The thing is, I back what I can see. And what I can see is a home team that cannot defend and an away team that can score. Napoli to win. One selection. Back it properly.

Clean sheet for Napoli? Their record shows only one clean sheet in five matches in this window, so I am not chasing that. But a Napoli win, with goals flying in at this end of the pitch, is as close to a certainty as Sunday football gives you.

Sassuolo have one long-term absentee of their own carrying an injury that has kept them out since June and will not return until January. Their squad is thin and their confidence is thinner. Napoli should win this. They should win it comfortably. We will see if they have the attitude to get the job done away from home, because that draw at Roma showed they can switch off at the back too.

Final Word

Sassuolo need to find something from somewhere. A performance. A result. Anything. But I have watched them ship 15 goals in five matches and I am not turning up to Sunday hoping they have suddenly sorted their defensive basics overnight. Napoli to win. That is the call. End of.