The champions start at Sassuolo

After a year away, Serie A Enilive returns to the Mapei Stadium in Reggio Emilia, with Napoli, the reigning Champions of Italy, making the trip. The Partenopei are aiming to extend their twelve-game unbeaten run: their last defeat was a 2-1 away loss to Como on 23 February. Sassuolo, off the back of their win over Catanzaro in the first round of the Coppa Italia Frecciarossa, hope to emulate Verona, who beat Conte’s side 3-0 on the opening day last season, and make a strong start themselves.

HEAD-TO-HEAD

In Emilia, there have been 11 official matches between the two teams: only one win for the Neroverdi (2-1 in Serie A 2015/16), five draws (the last one 2-2 in Serie A 2021/22) and five wins for the Azzurri (the last one 6-1 in Serie A 2023/24).

DID YOU KNOW?

Conte's teams have made flying starts to the league in August when he has been in charge of Italian clubs: 8 wins, 1 draw and 1 defeat in the 10 games played so far, averaging 2.25 points per game. The reigning Italian champions got off to a positive start on the first day of the year in which they have worn the Scudetto badge since 2015. The last team to lose was Juventus, who went down 0-1 at home to Udinese.

COACHES

Fabio Grosso, the coach who led the Emilian side's rapid rise from Serie B to Serie A in one season, has been confirmed as coach. Grosso has only three games in Serie A and is looking for his first points and goals: his previous experience as with Brescia in November 2019, with three defeats out of three games and a goal difference of 0-10. Conte is the only coach in Serie A history to have won Scudetto in three different cities.

DISCIPLINE

Suspended: none Squalificati: Cautioned: none Diffidati: nessuno

REFEREE

AYROLDI (LO CICERO – YOSHIKAWA) IV: RAPUANO, VAR: DI BELLO, AVAR: AURELIANO

UPCOMING MATCHES IN SERIE A

Cremonese-Sassuolo (Friday 29 August, 18.30 CEST) Napoli-Cagliari (Saturday 30 August, 20.45 CEST) (Photo LaPresse)