Kieron Bowie and Josh Doig start for Sassuolo in Sunday's trip to Atalanta, putting two Scotland players into the same Serie A lineup at a time when the league's Scottish thread is becoming hard to miss. The match is one of the fixtures being followed under 's live coverage package for the season.
The draw for many readers is not only the team news but the scale of the coverage around it. ALBA and Sport will show 38 live Serie A matches this season, with one league game per round carried across the package. ALBA will have 19 live games with Gaelic and English co-commentary, while Sport will stream a further 19 on iPlayer with English commentary.
That wider Scottish presence has another face in Billy Gilmour, who is returning from the knee injury that cost him a place at the World Cup. He will hope to feature more prominently under Massimiliano Allegri, and his situation gives the Atalanta Vs Sassuolo storyline a sharper edge: some Scottish players are pushing into the frame, while others are still fighting back from setbacks that changed the shape of their season.
Elsewhere, Lewis Ferguson is coming into his fifth campaign with Bologna after winning the Coppa Italia in 2025, Che Adams is leading the line for Torino, and Lennon Miller is being tracked as an Udinese teenager. Djed Spence and John Stones joined Inter Milan this summer, while Fikayo Tomori and Ruben Loftus-Cheek have both represented England in the past and Harry Winks is now a Cagliari midfielder.
For Sassuolo, the immediate question is whether Bowie and Doig hold their places beyond Sunday. For the broadcaster, the answer is already set: one match per round, 38 in all, and a season-long run of Scottish interest that starts again with Atalanta.
