The Bianconeri started the year with wins against Udinese and AC Milan and will be looking to make it three victories on the bounce but Pirlo is wary of Roberto De Zerbi’s men, who have won eight games out of their first 16 matches.
“I expect a difficult game, as Sassuolo are a very good team who have been playing together for several years now,” said Pirlo in his press conference.
Pirlo has been a long term admirer of De Zerbi, having openly named his compatriot as one of the coaches he was studying before landing the Juventus job, along with two of the very best coaches in the world, Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp.
“They have an excellent coach in Roberto De Zerbi, we must above all be concentrated when they have the ball, because they’re very good at escaping the opposition press.”
“We’ve always had some great conversations about football, but there are many young coaches out there who are doing well.”
Juventus are back in the conversation for this season’s Scudetto after beating league leaders AC Milan on Wednesday, but Pirlo is adamant that Stefano Pioli’s men are favourites to win the title.
“Whoever is top remains the team to beat,” the Italian coach added. “We’ve won for nine years in a row and clearly there is pressure on us, but Milan are the team to beat because they are the leaders.
“It was an important victory, but if we don’t win tomorrow, then it will all have been for nothing. If we don’t get a result here, then what we did at San Siro will fall into the background.
“What I do want is for us to improve our mental strength. Too many times, we score a goal and then have a few minutes after that where our heads are in the clouds. I ask for more concentration, because those are important minutes to give a sense of consistency.”
