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Sassuolo welcome Spezia to the Mapei Stadium in their round 21 Serie A fixture on Saturday.
The hosts are winless in their last four games and were held to a 1-1 draw by 18th-placed Cagliari in their last match.
Spezia have not done too well recently, having suffered two back-to-back losses in the league. Last weekend, they lost 1-0 to Udinese at home in a game where both sides were reduced to 10 men.
Also See: The 10 highest-paid goalkeepers in the world
Sassuolo vs Spezia Head-to-Head
There have only been five meetings between the two sides across Serie A, Serie B, and Coppa Italia. Sassuolo have won all five encounters, maintaining a 100% record against the Aquilotti.
These sides last locked horns in Serie earlier this season. The encounter at the Stadio Dino Manuzzi ended in a 4-1 win for the Neroverdi and they'll be hoping to do the same in this reverse fixture.
Sassuolo form guide across all competitions: D-L-D-L-L
Spezia form guide across all competitions: L-L-L-W-D
Sassuolo vs Spezia Team News
Sassuolo
Manager Roberto De Zerbi will be without the services of Filippo Romagna as the defender continues to recover from knee surgery. De Zerbi expects Domenico Berardi to return to the fold after missing a month due to a thigh strain.
Mehdi Bourabia is also expected to sit this one out. Vlad Chiriches came in contact with someone infected with COVID-19 and faces a late test to determine his eligibility for the game.
Maxime Lopez picked up his fifth yellow card of the campaign and is suspended for this fixture.
Injured: Filippo Romagna, Mehdi Bourabia
Doubtful: Vlad Chiriches
Suspended: Maxime Lopez
Spezia
For Spezia, M'Bala Nzola and Salvador Ferrer will not make the two-hour trip to Sassuolo as they both continue to recover from their respective injuries. Roberto Piccoli is also struggling with a hamstring issue and might not feature on Saturday.
Federico Mattiello is back in training but is not yet ready to feature. Riccardo Marchizza and club captain Claudio Terzi are fit and should return to the starting XI in this match.
Riccardo Saponara is suspended for this game after picking up a red card in their loss against Udinese.
Injured: M'Bala Nzola, Salvador Ferrer, Roberto Piccoli, Federico Mattiello
Doubtful: Riccardo Marchizza
Suspended: Riccardo Saponara
Sassuolo vs Spezia Predicted XI
Sassuolo Predicted XI (4-2-3-1): Andrea Consigli; Marlon, Gian Marco Ferrari, Mert Muldur, Giorgos Kyriakopoulos; Pedro Obiang, Manuel Locatelli; Jeremie Boga, Hamed Junior Traore, Filip Đuričić; Francesco Caputo
Spezia Predicted XI (4-3-3): Ivan Provedel; Cristian Dell'Orco, Claudio Terzi, Ardian Ismajli, Riccardo Marchizza; Nahuel Estevez, Lucien Agoume, Giulio Maggiore; Emmanuel Gyasi, Andrey Galabinov, Diego Farias
Sassuolo vs Spezia Prediction
Sassuolo have struggled in the final third in their recent fixtures and the absence of the influential Berardi has hit them hard. They've scored only once per game in all but one of their last six league fixtures.
Meanwhile, Spezia have scored 10 goals across all competitions in their last six games.
We expect the game to end in a high-scoring draw as both sides struggle to gain an advantage over the other.
Prediction: Sassuolo 2-2 Spezia
Also See: 10 highest-paid players in the Serie A this season (2020/21)
