Monza welcome Sassuolo to the U-Power Stadium in a clash between two Serie A sides enduring difficult runs of late.
While the hosts have seen faint hopes of Europe fade away, Sassuolo's top-flight future is hanging in the balance in the early stages of the second half of the campaign.
Match preview
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A run of five defeats in their last eight league games has seen Monza slide down the standings and into the bottom half, after initially showing signs of contending for Europe.
Now sitting seven points adrift of the top seven, Raffaele Palladino must feel reserved to a mid-table finish this campaign, in what must be remembered is only Monza's second season at this level.
Home form has largely been to blame for that, as only five teams in the division have fewer points on home soil than Monza.
That was exacerbated by a 5-1 thrashing at the hands of Inter Milan in their last outing here, extending their run at the U-Power Stadium to just one win in six.
Last weekend, they were then on the receiving end of a remarkable hat-trick from midfielder Szymon Zurkowski, as a very disappointing 3-0 loss to an Empoli side down in 19th made it back-to-back defeats.
Conceding three goals to a side who had only found the net 11 times in their first 20 games of the season was already worrying, but it also means they have now conceded 10 goals in just three games - only one more than they let in in the 13 games prior.
Monza's next three games all come against sides in the bottom six, so they must forget about last week's horror show and ensure they take advantage, otherwise they could begin to get dragged further down the standings.
Along with Monza in the bottom four of the form table is Sassuolo, who were not in action due to Napoli's involvement in the Supercoppa last weekend.
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Manager Alessio Dionisi will hope two weeks off has given his team time to regroup, after a defeat at Juventus last time out was their sixth in eight games.
That has seen the Neroverdi fall to 15th, and they are now just two points above the relegation zone, as fears grow that their 11-year stay in Serie A could be in danger.
Sassuolo have not had this few points at this stage of the season since their debut campaign in the top flight back in 2013-14, when they would go on to narrowly avoid the drop in 17th.
If Sassuolo are to put recent form behind them and come away victorious here, they will have to do something they have not yet been able to accomplish - beating Monza in Serie A.
The hosts won 1-0 in the reverse fixture in Reggio Emilia, as well as taking four points off Sassuolo in their debut Serie A campaign last year.
Team News
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Monza's sudden defensive frailties have arisen in the absence of goalkeeper Michele Di Gregorio, who was injured in the first half of their 3-2 win over Frosinone but is in contention to return this weekend.
Young Alessandro Sorrentino has deputised in his absence and not had the best time of things, picking the ball out of his own net 10 times in just 230 minutes.
Monza have two more notable absentees, with Gianluca Caprari recovering from an ACL tear, and Jose Machin away on international duty with Equatorial Guinea.
Samuele Birindelli will return to the squad after missing the Empoli defeat with suspension, and Daniel Maldini made his debut off the bench in that game after joining on loan from AC Milan.
Sassuolo could hand a full debut to a new signing of their own, after Josh Doig arrived from Hellas Verona last week.
Doig's chances of a start are boosted by the absence of Matias Vina with a knee injury, while fellow full-back Jeremy Toljan is also doubtful after missing the Juventus defeat.
Elsewhere, Pedro Obiang and Uros Racic will be missing from the Sassuolo engine room, and Gregoire Defrel remains out up front.
Monza possible starting lineup:
Di Gregorio; D'Ambrosio, Pablo Mari, Caldirola; Pedro Pereira, Gagliardini, Pessina, Ciurria; Colpani, Colombo, Dany Mota
Sassuolo possible starting lineup:
Consigli; Pedersen, Erlic, Ruan, Doig; Boloca, Matheus Henrique, Thorstvedt; Berardi, Pinamonti, Lauriente
We say: Monza 1-1 Sassuolo
Neither side are showing promising signs of late, and this could be a very scrappy game between two teams afraid of falling to another defeat.
Domenico Berardi could be the difference maker for Sassuolo, as any result may be seen as a step in the right direction for the visitors.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Andrew Delaney
