Sassuolo vs AC Milan: Preview, team news, h2h – Chukwueze seeks first goal

Sassuolo vs AC Milan kicks off Serie A’s sixth round on Sunday, October 11, 2026, with Amorim’s side sitting fifth after five games without defeat and Alberto Aquilani’s hosts tenth, still searching for the consistency that eluded them in September.

Milan have not lost at the Mapei Stadium since Allegri’s reign ended, yet it was at this same ground in May that Sassuolo handed the Rossoneri a 2-0 defeat, a result that still sits as the most recent chapter in a head-to-head record Milan otherwise dominate.

Samuel Chukwueze has not found the net for AC Milan this season, but the Super Eagles winger has quietly built two assists in four Serie A appearances since returning from a loan spell at Fulham. And Ruben Amorim is trusting the Nigeria international with a starting wide role again as Milan travel to the Mapei Stadium unbeaten in the league.

Sassuolo vs AC Milan: Form favours the visitors

Milan arrive on the back of three wins and two draws from their opening five Serie A matches, a run built on a 2-0 win over Venezia, a 1-1 draw at Juventus, a 2-2 draw against Lazio and a three-nil win over Lecce their last time out, for a goal record of 10 scored and four conceded.

That unbeaten start has come under Amorim, who replaced Massimiliano Allegri on July 8, 2026, after Allegri led Milan to a fifth-place finish last season, and the Portuguese coach has lost just one match in all competitions since taking charge, a Europa League defeat away to Benfica that sits outside his domestic record.

Sassuolo’s form is considerably more uneven. Aquilani’s side have won two, drawn one and lost two of their last five in the league, beginning with a 2-1 loss at Atalanta before a 2-1 win over Torino, a 2-2 draw with Bologna, a 3-2 win against Juventus and, most recently, a 2-1 defeat at Monza.

That sequence of nine goals scored and nine conceded in five games leaves Sassuolo tenth with seven points, four behind Milan.

Chukwueze’s own underlying numbers back up the eye test. Across his four starts and substitute appearances this season, he has set up two goals and carries an average FotMob rating of 7.76, the highest of any Milan attacker to have played more than three matches, even without a goal of his own yet.

Sassuolo vs AC Milan: Head-to-head – Milan hold the edge, but not at this ground

Milan’s head-to-head advantage, 13 wins to eight with five draws and a 48-39 aggregate goal count, is built largely away from Reggio Emilia.

The most recent fixture at the Mapei Stadium, on May 3, 2026, went the other way, with Sassuolo winning two-nil under Allegri’s management, a result that predates Amorim’s appointment and cannot be read as a guide to how his Milan will fare on Sunday.

Sassuolo vs AC Milan: Team news

Sassuolo’s injury list remains long, with Candé, Idzes, Pieragnolo, Koné and Volpato all unavailable, but Aquilani does get a boost in central midfield as Darryl Bakola returns to contention after a fitness scare, freeing the coach to keep Vasilije Adžić, this season’s top scorer with three goals, as an option from the bench rather than a forced starter.

Murić remains a doubt after the contusion he picked up on international duty with Kosovo, yet he is still expected to be preferred in goal ahead of back-up Stefano Turati if he comes through a final fitness check.

For Milan, Amorim’s only confirmed absentees are left-sided options Estupiñán and Saelemaekers, both ruled out through injury.

That has pushed Davide Bartesaghi into the left wing-back role, with Diego Moreira, the club’s top scorer with three goals in three appearances, operating just behind Gonçalo Ramos.

Chukwueze keeps his place on the opposite flank, where his two assists this season make him Milan’s most productive wide outlet.

Sassuolo vs AC Milan: Chukwueze’s numbers stack up against Sassuolo’s top scorer

Adžić has the goal output to show for his five appearances, but Chukwueze’s rating edges him on a per-ninety basis, built on the two assists he has already delivered in little more than four full matches of action.

If either man gets space in behind on Sunday, both carry the kind of end product their side’s attack has leaned on this season.

The managers: Amorim still unbeaten in Serie A

Alberto Aquilani continues to oversee a Sassuolo side built on a patched-together defence, with his side’s points total a fair reflection of a group still searching for its best XI.

Ruben Amorim, in contrast, has not lost a Serie A match since replacing Allegri on July 8, winning his first game in charge away at Torino before building the unbeaten five-match run that has carried Milan to fifth.

His side’s goal difference of plus six, the best outside the top four, points to a coach already stamping his attacking principles on a squad he inherited rather than built.

Sassuolo vs AC Milan tactical preview: Chukwueze’s flank against Sassuolo’s back four

Amorim’s back three gives Milan an extra body to push Chukwueze and Bartesaghi high as auxiliary wing-backs, stretching Sassuolo’s flat back four and creating space centrally for Modrić to dictate tempo.

Sassuolo’s own front three of Berardi, Esposito and Laurienté will look to counter in behind that same back three, with Berardi in particular cutting inside off the right to link with Esposito through the middle.

Whichever side wins the battle on Milan’s left, where Bartesaghi is still adapting to regular senior football, is likely to shape where the game’s decisive moments come from.

The Naija slip: Sassuolo vs AC Milan