Sassuolo are the surprising favourites to go down this season from the Serie A. Currently sitting 19th in the table at the time of writing and having a game in hand over their relegation rivals, Sassuolo have 23 points and are five points below 13th-placed Leece in a really tight relegation battle.

The visualisation below shows the numbers from Sassuolo’s season so far.

Goalscoring has not been a problem for Sassuolo when compared with their rivals. They have 33 goals so far, which is almost on par with their xG of 35.37, and rank 11th for that metric.

Their defence has been a problem, conceding 55 goals. Only two other teams—fellow relegation contenders Frosinone (60) and Salernitana (59)—have conceded more.

However, their xGA stands at only 47.81. With an average possession of 45.5%, Sassuolo quite often do not dictate games and are left to chase the game. One thing that Sassuolo can boast a lot about from their season is the average squad age, which is one of the youngest in the league at 25.8 years — that number is lower than the league average of 26.68.

Sassuolo also rank worse for their pressing intensity, allowing an average of approximately 15 passes before they win the ball back. Only Salernitana have a higher PPDA value.

It is not over yet for Sassuolo, who finally won last week against Frosinone after an eight-game winless streak. A very tight race for relegation means Sassuolo cannot blink now and need to get the maximum out of every single game going forward if they are to stay in Serie A next season.