Cagliari will hope to continue their early season European push but face a stern test of their credentials against Serie A title contenders Inter Milan.
Match News and Current Form
Cagliari continued their recent uptick in form by thumping Frosinone 4-1 on Tuesday in the Coppa Italia to mark a third successive victory. That included a 2-1 win over Lecce last matchday, which followed up a 2-0 win against Parma in the round prior, but the Islanders haven’t posted three consecutive top-flight wins since April 2021. Achieving that feat will require them to also post their first set of back-to-back home Serie A victories since November 2023, and having won more points from losing positions than any other side in the division this season (four), even falling behind may not be fatal to their chances.
A hard-fought 2-1 win over Sassuolo last weekend secured back-to-back competitive wins for the first time this season for Inter. Their thumping 5-0 win over Torino on matchday one seems nothing more than a distant memory as their next three league matches were decided by a single goal (W1, L2), so their heavy favouritism here doesn’t necessarily count for much with Inter below their hosts in the table. Head coach Christian Chivu may have dodged the bullet for now, but faces a challenge to maintain the momentum as the Nerazzurri have won just three of their last ten league trips (D3, L4).
Head-to-Head History
Inter are unbeaten in 14 of their last 15 league H2Hs (W12, D2, L1). They have also won eight of their last nine away league H2Hs (L1), including each of the last five.
Hot Stats and Streaks
In four of Cagliari’s last six home league matches, exactly three goals were scored.
Cagliari haven’t scored in the opening 30 minutes of a Serie A game this season.
Eight of Inter’s last nine Serie A matches saw the first half result replicated at the final whistle.
Ahead of the round, Inter’s matches averaged a league-high 12.5 corners per game this season.
Key Players to Watch and Missing Players
Mattia Felici scored in Cagliari’s Coppa Italia win over Frosinone, which means four of his last five club goals came in home games. Lautaro Martínez has a personal-high 11 goals in 11 matches against Cagliari and has netted in each of his last five H2Hs (seven goals), helping Inter win each time.
Zito Luvumbo remains out of contention for Cagliari, while Gabriele Zappa could be assessed late. Inter appear to be close to full strength.
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Betting Analysis
Inter’s recent domination of this fixture and their scoring record makes backing Inter to win and over 2.5 goals a strong pick.
Author: Sridhar Bhamidi