AC Milan face a Sassuolo team that have struggled to rack up wins recently, but they are a team that still score goals and have attacking weapons.
On the official website, Milan have published some stats ahead of the game, starting with the fact that if Sassuolo were to fail to win they would reach the halfway points of a Serie A season with four victories or less for only the third time in their history after 2022-23 (four wins) and 2013-14 (three).
Defensive struggles have been a theme for Alessio Dionisi’s side given they have conceded 71 league goals in 40 games played, a record for the club in a single calendar year in the competition. The previous record was in fact 70 goals conceded in 2021.
Sassuolo have lost 28 points lost from a leading position in Serie A in 2023 – at least two more than any other team since the start of the calendar year – 14 of which have come this season. They have conceded 19 second half goals so far, a number only Salernitana can match.
The Neroverdi are also one of five teams from Europe’s top five leagues to have yet keep a clean sheet this season (Salernitana, Granada, Brighton and Augsburg are the others).
Sassuolo are a team that still score goals though. They have scored the most (six) and attempted the most shots (110) from outside the area, while no team has conceded more long-range goals in the current tournament than AC Milan (five).
Domenico Berardi has had a very positive 2023 on a personal level having been involved in exactly 30 goals in Serie A (20 goals and ten assists). In the last 15 years, considering Italian players, only Antonio Di Natale (36 in 2010 and 2011) and Ciro Immobile (39 in 2017, 31 in 2019 and 34 in 2020) have managed to do better in a single calendar year.
The Sassuolo has scored eleven goals against and provided seven assists in Serie A, in a total of 18 appearances.
Jeremy Toljan’s attacking contribution has been a pleasant surprise for Jeremy Toljan given the German has already provided five assists in this campaign. The only Sassuolo defender who has done better in a single Serie A season is Pol Lirola (six in 2018-19).
