Sassuolo Look To Kick off 2025 With a Bang Against Struggling Salernitana

After a two-week break Serie B makes its return this weekend and, rather fittingly, the honour of getting the ball rolling in the new year falls to league leaders Sassuolo.

The Neroverdi waved goodbye to 2024 top of the pile with a three-point lead over Pisa and a healthy eight-point advantage over third-placed Spezia, with Cremonese six points further adrift.

After a slow start, Sassuolo have lived up to their billing of promotion favourites and hit their stride in spectacular fashion as autumn made way for winter, winning 10 of their 11 matches in the lead up to Christmas.

But a 3-1 defeat by Pisa on Boxing Day checked their momentum and Fabio Grosso’s men required two goals in the last five minutes to prevail over Cosenza in their final outing of 2024.

And the 2006 World Cup winner believes the loss to Pisa and the near-miss against Cosenza will serve as a lesson to his players.

“Recovering our energies was paramount, and we must hit the ground running,” he told La Gazzetta dello Sport.

“The last two matches, I hope, have served as a wake-up call. I’m fully focused on regaining humility and competitive drive.

“Considering the promising start to the season, we’ve made significant strides, and now we must lift our performances to new heights and be ready for any challenges.”

Despite their pre-break blip, Sassuolo remain the team to beat in Serie B and the fact the Neroverdi are yet to bring in any January signings speaks volumes for the quality of the squad at Grosso’s disposal.

Armand Lauriente and Nicholas Pierini have both eight league goals each, while Kristian Thorstvedt has seven and Samuele Mulattieri has chipped in with five. 

Throw in Domenico Berardi’s 10 assists and it comes as no surprise that Sassuolo are the top scorers in the league with an average of over two goals per game.

Grosso, however, expects Sassuolo’s rivals to get closer in the second half of the campaign.

“Every team will be stronger in the second half of the season,” he said.

“What we’ve accomplished has brought us to the top and earned us praise, but we won’t make the mistake of letting our guard down.”

If Sassuolo have a clean bill of health, the same cannot be said for Salernitana, who lost 4-0 in the reverse fixture in November and welcome them at the Stadio Arechi in the early kick-off on Sunday.

Third from bottom in Serie B and just one point ahead of rock-bottom Cosenza, the Granata are winless since December 1 and went into 2025 on the back of consecutive defeats to Frosinone and Catanzaro.

Worse still, as far as their chances of survival are concerned, they have not scored in their last three matches. There is plenty to ponder for Roberto Breda, who last week became Salernitana’s fourth manager this season after replacing Stefano Colantuono.

Andrea Sottil left in the summer and was replaced by Giovanni Martusciello, who was sacked in mid-November after winning just three of his matches in charge.

Colantuono, who oversaw the drop into Serie B last season, stepped in but his third spell in Salerno lasted just 49 days and delivered just one win in seven matches.

Breda, who racked up over 200 appearances as a player for Salernitana across two spells, is now tasked with avoiding a second consecutive relegation.