36' Rogerio! The left-back cuts in off the left and cracks a low shot in that Handanovic bobbles precariously close to his own goalmouth. That could have been embarrassing for the shotstopper.
34' A cry for a free-kick from Rogerio goes begging after the Sassuolo man is dragged down in a challenge near the edge of Inter's 18-yard area. That looked close.
32' Sassuolo are making sharper runs here, yet they're struggling to create the clear-cut conversion they would have hoped for. Then, whenever Vidal or Perisic latches onto them, they have to backpedal at pace to defend their lines.
30' Here's a remarkable stat; Inter have had seven shots against two for Sassuolo, but have only had 35 per cent of the ball to date. That seems quite barmy; this game has felt far more tilted towards them, even without their goals.
28' Boga draws a smart foul from Barella in the region of Inter's box and Berardi whips the set-piece into the box where the hosts fail to make a connection before it is cleared. Inter holding steady at the back.
26' As if to illustrate those frailties, the visitors are allowed to storm down the right wing and ping crossfield balls to each other with relatively little pressure. Vidal ultimately skies a shot from the lip of the box into the stands.
24' This has been a better period for the hosts, but there's no escaping that whenever Inter break, they look liable to cut their defence to ribbons. It's more an indictment of the creative firepower they boast then their opposition's back-line.
22' Duricic! Much better from Sassuolo now as their number 10 crafts two solid chances. He lofts an initial shot wide of the right post with a curling effort and a minute later canters back into the box before his square pass is foiled by Handanovic.
20' Rogerio and Boga combine to give Sassuolo a rare foothold heading down the left wing, yet they can't convert a ball into the box before Skriniar draws a foul and a free-kick for Inter.
18' Mapei Stadium is coated in a fine, drizzle-laden mist today making conditions a little bit treacherous underfoot. The ball is skimming the turf less than it might be expected to.
16' This has been an absolute nightmare start for Sassuolo. They've been unbeaten in Serie A this term so far but it looks like it will take something special to dig themselves out of trouble here.
13' Vidal spears an ambitious cross in off the right edge now and Chiriches just steers it over his own crossbar. A corner to the visitors.
11' Martinez! My word, that was close from the striker. Again, the attacker finds himself in open space, searing down the centre-left flank before attempting to chop a lob ball over Consigli, who is off his line. It just skews wide of the far post.
9' Sanchez fells Chiriches now as Sassuolo look to try and return fire, and the former Manchester United man is arguably lucky to escape without a card. The set-piece delivery into the box is steered away by De Vrij easily enough.
8' Sassuolo have not been played off the park, but that was a major error at the back for that goal. Roberto De Zerbi will surely have some strong words about that at half-time.
6' It's almost two inside the first 10 minutes for Inter! Martinez latches onto a Sanchez cross and cracks an effort in, then Consigli is forced into a blinding save as Perisic whistles a follow-up in. Sterling stuff from the Nerazzurri.
2' Early half-chances fall for Sanchez and Martinez inside the opening minute after a dangerous ball bounces around the Sassuolo box, but neither can make a clean connection. It's an early show of energy from the visitors.
1' We are underway in this Serie A clash between Sassuolo and Inter!
There will be a moment of silence for the late Diego Maradona - a giant of football in Italy - before we get underway.
The teams are poised to emerge at Mapei Stadium ahead of kick-off.
One thing we could perhaps be counting on here? Goals. Across the two Serie A encounters last season, these sides netted a combined 13 times - a 4-3 win for Inter on this ground and a 3-3 in the reverse at San Siro.
Subs: Achraf Hakimi, Romelu Lukaku, Stefano Sensi, Andrea Ranocchia, Ashley Young, Christian Eriksen, Danilo D'Ambrosio, Filip Stankovic, Andrei Radu.
INTER (3-5-2): Samir Handanovic; Milan Skriniar, Stefan de Vrij, Alessandro Bastoni; Matteo Darmian, Nicolo Barella, Roberto Gagliardini, Arturo Vidal, Ivan Perisic; Lautaro Martinez, Alexis Sanchez.
Subs: Marlon, Francesco Magnanelli, Kaan Ayhan, Federico Peluso, Pedro Obiang, Mert Muldur, Hamed Junior Traore, Brain Oddei, Gianluca Pegolo, Mehdi Bourabia, Giorgos Kyriakopoulos, Nicolas Schiappacasse.
SASSUOLO (4-2-3-1): Andrea Consigli; Jeremy Toljan, Vlad Chiriches, Gian Marco Ferrari, Rogerio; Maxime Lopez, Manuel Locatelli; Domenico Berardi, Filip Duricic, Jeremie Boga; Giacomo Raspadori.
The visitors make three changes from the side who fell to Madrid in midweek, with Ivan Perisic, Matteo Darmian and Alexis Sanchez drafted in, while Christian Eriksen has to make do with a spot on the bench once more. Their hosts are unchanged.
It has been some years since Sassuolo of course were at this particular extremity of the table - a top six finish in 2016 sent them on an adventure to the Europa League group stages - but they have looked the part this year. This could be a close one.
Between them and three points however is the team that lies second behind the Rossoneri, buoyed by a remarkable unbeaten start to the season. Roberto De Zerbi will be determined that his side - who came eighth last term - preserve that record today.
It's been a week to forget for Antonio Conte's Nerazzurri, after their 10-men side went down to Real Madrid in the Champions League - but they are presented with an immediate chance to reverse their fortunes , as they look to pursue rivals Milan at the summit.
Hello and welcome to live coverage of the 2020-21 Serie A season as last term's runners-up Inter travel to fellow top four hopefuls and early pacesetters Sassuolo for an intriguing clash at Mapei Stadium.
