Saturday’s Serie A action rounds off at the Sardegna Arena with an exciting encounter between relegation-threatened Cagliari and Champions League hopefuls Juventus. Stakes are high as both sides are still sweating over their seasonal goals.
Cagliari will be out to settle the fans’ nerves following an embarrassing 5-1 defeat away to fellow bottom-half strugglers Udinese last time out. A disturbing result at the Dacia Arena extended the Sardinians’ losing Serie A streak to four matches, leaving them a mere three points clear of 18th-placed Venezia.
Another enthralling Serie A season is pulling to a close, as are Juventus’ chances of dethroning defending champions Inter. Massimiliano Allegri’s men were sniffing around another Scudetto on the back of an eye-catching 16-game unbeaten league streak. Yet, a heartbreaking 1-0 defeat in last weekend’s Derby d’Italia erased their title hopes.
Match Preview
Cagliari
Cagliari are having a tough time, and they will have to turn things around swiftly if they were to maintain their Serie A status. Walter Mazzari’s side have lost their last four league matches by an aggregate score of 11-1. A visit from fourth-placed Juventus offers virtually no hope of a turnaround due to their disastrous top-flight record against the current top-five sides (D1, L7) this season.
Unfortunately, the Sardegna Arena outfit cannot take much confidence from their recent H2H home record against the Bianconeri. Indeed, Cagliari have suffered nine defeats across their last ten Serie A meetings with Juve on home turf, conceding 3+ goals on five occasions in this spread of fixtures.
Home and away, the Sardinians have found themselves on the losing side in ten of their last 11 Serie A H2Hs, failing to find the back of the net eight times in the process. Mazzarri’s team can ill-afford to let the travelling Bianconeri give a crack from long range, having conceded a league-high 12 goals from outside the box during this Serie A season.
Juventus
Despite seeing their stellar 16-match unbeaten Serie A streak come to a halt last time out, Juventus can still find comfort in their recent away showings. Allegri’s men have not lost any of their last nine league fixtures on the road (W6, D3) since falling to a 2-1 defeat at Hellas Verona in late October.
Though it’s true that Juventus have not been the most entertaining side to watch under Allegri, they’ve at least found consistency away from home. They have netted 18 goals across their last nine Serie A travels – at an average of 2.00 per match – highlighting the potential for another prolific weekend.
Allegri has tightened up Juve’s backline, yet defending set-pieces has been their Achilles heel this calendar year. Indeed, seven of the ten Serie A goals Juventus conceded in 2022 have come from set-piece plays. Moreover, they have failed to keep a clean sheet in four of their last five competitive games on hostile turf.
Cagliari vs Juventus Team News
Nahitan Nandez and Kevin Strootman are definite absentees in the Cagliari camp as both players are still nursing injuries on the sidelines. Alberto Grassi is unavailable for selection due to a red-card suspension, while Mazzarri hopes to have Razvan Marin and Daniele Baselli fit and firing.
On the other hand, Juventus will be without long-term absentees Kaio Jorge and Federico Chiesa, while Mattia de Sciglio, Weston McKennie and Manuel Locatelli have all picked up injuries. In-form Alvaro Morata is not in contention for the matchday squad after accumulating five bookings.
Cagliari Potential Starting XI (3-4-2-1): Alessio Cragno; Edoardo Goldaniga, Matteo Lovato, Giorgio Altare; Raoul Bellanova, Marko Rog, Alessandro Deiola, Dalbert Henrique; Daniele Baselli, Joao Pedro; Gaston Pereiro.
Juventus Potential Starting XI (4-3-3): Wojciech Szczesny; Danilo, Matthijs de Ligt, Giorgio Chiellini, Alex Sandro; Adrien Rabiot, Denis Zakaria, Juan Cuadrado; Paulo Dybala, Moise Kean, Dusan Vlahovic.