Roma vs Sassuolo: Will Mourinho set personal record in milestone game?
High-flying Roma will hope to keep their winning streak going as they prepare to host Sassuolo on Sunday evening. Since Jose Mourinho took over, the Giallorossi appear, so far, to be going from strength to strength. They’re one of five teams to have won all of their matches so far, and already some Roma fans have started to believe that the “Special One” may be the man to help end their decades-long wait for a Scudetto title.
This game will also be a historic one for Mourinho, as it’s the 1,000th match for him in his career. Should he guide Roma to a well-deserved win over Sassuolo, it will also be the first time he’s won five in a row at any of his clubs. And if the Giallorossi come out on top, it will mark the first occasion the capital-based club have won six consecutive matches at the Stadio Olimpico since 2017. Given that Roma will take on an equally high-flying Lazio in the Derby della Capitale at the end of the month, the Lupi will want to pick up maximum points against smaller sides like Sassuolo, Udinese, and Verona to put themselves in good stead.
Last season saw Roma finish in seventh place and thus qualify for the inaugural Europa Conference League tournament, in which they’ve started with aplomb after handling Turkish side Trabzonspor during qualifiers. Of course, Mourinho will be aiming much higher than European club football’s tertiary competition, having won both the Champions and Europa Leagues already with Inter and Manchester United.
New signing Tammy Abraham appears to be enjoying his football once again, after being brought in by Mourinho from Chelsea. Whereas at the Blues the young English international found himself squeezed out as new manager Thomas Tuchel continued to put blind faith in Timo Werner – despite the German’s poor goal output – Abraham finds himself now back in the starting XI and as such has played a key role in Roma’s impressive success so far. Given the quality he showed at Chelsea, if Mourinho can successfully boost his confidence, he could turn out to be a very excellent investment by the ambitious club.
As for Sassuolo, they’re also under new management, with Alessio Dionisi overseeing a decent campaign so far. Although the Neroverdi dropped two points in a draw with Sampdoria, they’ve earned four points so far, and will be again heavily relying on Domenico Berardi to provide the goals up front. The Italian international, who was part of the EURO 2020-winning Azzurri squad and has been linked with a move to Leicester City this winter, has scored eight goals in his last nine appearances for the Neroverdi, and has scored three times against Roma so far. That includes a brace last season, and given Sassuolo’s reputation for disrupting proceedings, Roma will be really wary to avoid a potential banana peel on Sunday evening.
