Sports Mole previews Thursday’s Serie A clash between Cagliari and Sassuolo, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
Fresh off fighting back from two goals down against Hellas Verona, Cagliari host a Sassuolo side one place above them in the Serie A table in Thursday’s gameweek nine match at Unipol Domus.
Both clubs are currently experiencing mini wobbles in the league, although the Sardinians’ winless run extends to four games, while the Neroverdi have not won in two rounds.
Match preview
Having conceded twice to Verona on Sunday, Fabio Pisacane might have been forgiven for expecting a similar scoreline as the previous week, when the Rossoblu were beaten 2-0 by Bologna.
However, the Sardinians rallied in the final 15 minutes to score twice through Riyad Idrissi and Mattia Felici, the latter netting in the second minute of second-half stoppage time to earn a point for the Isolani.
The 2-2 draw in Veneto thus continues an ongoing pattern for Cagliari, which has seen them fail to win in their last four top-flight matches, drawing two and losing as many.
Both points have been claimed away from home, with results in Sardinia ending in 2-0 defeats against Inter Milan and Bologna.
While Sassuolo are not as highly-placed as the former pair, Cagliari enter Thursday’s match with Sassuolo, aiming to claim their first victory at Unipol Domus since mid-September, when they defeated Parma 2-0 before edging out Frosinone in the cup by the same score.
That goal to secure maximum points in front of their supporters is especially important, given that the Islanders have dominated recent meetings in this fixture, having defeated this week’s opponents in the last three encounters, outscoring the Neroverdi 5-1 during the winning run.
The promoted visitors are enjoying a promising start to their return to the top flight, sitting 13th after eight games with 10 points, one above the club they face in the ninth round.
Having not won away at Cagliari since September 2017, the visitors’ attempt to end their eight-year wait for a victory at the Isolani faces another challenge as Sassuolo seek to extend their hosts’ two-match winless streak in Sardinia.
Most of their 20 meetings have ended in draws, with half resulting in stalemates, and it remains to be seen if that pattern will continue this week, especially since the Neroverdi have drawn just one of their eight matches this season.
Fabio Grosso‘s side, like Cagliari, are experiencing a slight slump in results, having gone without a win in two matches after back-to-back victories over Udinese (3-1) and Verona (1-0).
Grosso’s team have failed to score in consecutive rounds, blanking in the goalless draw with Lecce and in Sunday’s 1-0 defeat by Roma.
Having scored in five straight league games before their current drought, Sassuolo now aim to avoid going scoreless in three league matches in a row, seeking to end a three-match losing streak against their Sardinian hosts.
Cagliari Serie A form:
Cagliari form (all competitions):
Sassuolo Serie A form:
Sassuolo form (all competitions):
Team News
While Cagliari suffered no apparent injury concerns against Verona, they remain without Andrea Belotti due to a serious knee injury, along with Nicola Pintus (thigh), Alessandro Deiola, Alessandro Di Pardo (calf), Yerry Mina (thigh) and Boris Radunovic.
Although Felici has matched the injured Belotti at the top of the Sardinians’ scoring charts, the midfielder is not expected to start for the hosts.
Instead, Sebastiano Esposito, an unused substitute on Sunday, and Gennaro Borrelli are expected to lead the attack as Pisacane’s team aims to end their four-match winless run.
Grosso faces even more injury issues: Domenico Berardi and Filippo Romagna’s availability is uncertain, while Daniel Boloca (muscle), Tarik Muharemovic, Edoardo Pieragnolo (knee), Laurs Skjellerup, Yeferson Paz and Giacomo Satalino are all expected to miss out for Sassuolo.
Only Andrea Pinamonti has scored more than one goal for the Neroverdi, and the forward hopes to add to his tally on Thursday.
Cagliari possible starting lineup:
Caprile; Zappa, Pedro, Luperto; Palestra, Adopo, Prati, Folorunsho, Obert; Borrelli, Esposito
Sassuolo possible starting lineup:
Muric; Walukiewicz, Idzes, Cande, Doig; Vranckx, Matic, Kone; Volpato, Pinamonti, Lauriente
We say: Cagliari 1-1 Sassuolo
Although Sassuolo have rarely drawn games this season, the history of draws in this fixture and Cagliari’s ongoing dip in Sardinia suggest caution in our prediction, leading us to expect a share of the points.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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