De Zerbi’s Determined Men: How Sassuolo forced Napoli’s switch to plan B

The 2020/21 Serie A campaign has been the home of numerous high-scoring and entertaining games, with this tie between Sassuolo and Napoli fitting into that category with a thrilling 3-3 draw.

Following this fixture, both teams would want to improve their form – Sassuolo now have just one win in their previous five games: two in five for the visitors Napoli.

While Sassuolo aren’t necessarily expected to qualify for the Europa League or Champions League for next season, Napoli supporters will be expecting a turnaround in form to make a push for UCL qualification, with the club currently sitting in 6th.

They would have to catch the likes of Juventus and AC Milan to make this a possibility.

In this tactical analysis, we will take a look at some of the key areas that allowed both teams to cause damage to their opponent  particularly the tactics used in the build-up to a goal.

Lineups

Hosts Sassuolo deployed a 4-2-3-1 shape. The veteran Francesco Caputo, who has an impressive 11 goals and 6 assists in 19 appearances this season, leads the line for the home side, with wide support from Domenico Berardi and Filip Đuričić.

Grégoire Defrel operated as the advanced central midfielder, with Maxime López and Manuel Locatelli sitting in the deeper midfield roles. The back four consisted of Marlon and Gian Marco Ferrari in the middle – Mert Müldür and Rogério playing as full-backs. Andrea Consigli was the man between the sticks.

Vi