On Sunday, 7th April, in the 31st round of the Italian Serie A, Cagliari will host Atalanta. In the midweek, La Dea suffered a defeat in the first leg of the Country Cup semi-finals against Juventus, but are fighting arduously for a spot in the European zone, whereas the hosts are dwelling near the trio of outsiders, battling for survival.
Cagliari: Scuffet; Zappa, Mina, Dossena, Augello; Makoumbou, Deiola; Nandez, Gaetano, Luvumbo; Lapadula.
Atalanta: Carnesecchi; Djimsiti, Hien, Kolasinac; Zappacosta, Ederson, De Roon, Ruggeri; Koopmeiners, Pasalic; Scamacca.
The match will be held in Cagliari, at the Unipol Domus stadium.
Having returned to the elite division this season, Cagliari is understandably fighting to not dangle from it. Currently, the team is ranked 16th in the Serie A standings, trailing the 18th position Empoli by 2 points. Having not suffered a loss for 4 rounds (2 victories and 2 draws), they fell short ahead of the international break, conceding a 1:0 loss in Monza. Last Monday, despite the support from the home crowd, Claudio Ranieri's charges couldn't overcome direct competitors in the survival challenge — Verona (1:1).
Ibrahim Sulemana, having come off the bench, landed a strike against his former team. It's crucial to note that the Rossoblu have secured only five out of 15 matches this season in Sardinia, ranking 14th overall in home points (20 in 15 matches). The April calendar leaves the hosts wanting: after the clash with Atalanta, they face away games against Inter and a face-off with Juventus.
Currently, Atalanta is 6th in the Serie A rankings, trailing the top four by 7 points, with one game in hand. The Bergamo side still has hopes of securing a spot in the Champions League, yet they have dropped valuable points, going without victories for 4 rounds until the international break (2 draws and 2 losses). Nevertheless, they managed to pull off a draw against AC Milan (1:1) and Juventus (2:2). Last weekend, Gian Piero Gasperini's charges found their winning stride, securing a convincing victory against Napoli with a 3-goal margin, before surrendering to Fiorentina in the first leg of the Italian Cup semi-finals (1:0).
Notably, as guests, they currently occupy the mediocre seventh position overall for away points (19 in 15 matches with 23 goals scored and 22 conceded). In the Europa League, La Dea overcame Sporting Lisbon with a score of 3:2 and advanced to the quarterfinals, where they will take on Liverpool on the upcoming Thursday.
Apart from the 2:0 success in September's first-round match, Atalanta emerged triumphant in all four of their last trips to Cagliari.
In the Serie A, the two clubs haven't ended in a stalemate in any of their last 17 encounters, and it seems likely this series will continue this Sunday evening when Atalanta depart Sardinia with the spoils. The visitors brandish a top-tier attacking force and still nurture dreams of finishing in the Champions League zone, while Cagliari is predictably stuck, having won only once in their last five home matches. My forecast — La Dea to secure a win.
Atalanta has scored 23 goals in 15 away matches this championship, while the hosts have conceded 25 times in as many home games. ITO (Individual total over) over 1.5 for the favourites is a solid bet here.
Atalanta surpasses the adversary in class and will be taking the ball forward, whereas the hosts will be relying on counterattacks. Expect at least five corners delivered by the Bergamo side.
Neither side is known for excessive roughness on the field (receiving less than two yellow cards per match, on average), thus my bet is on TU (Total under) bookings less than 3.5.
My wager is on a final score of 1:2 in favour of Atalanta.
# | Team | P | W | D | L | GD | G | PTS | |
1 | Napoli | 12 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 10 | 19:9 | 26 | |
2 | Atalanta | 12 | 8 | 1 | 3 | 16 | 31:15 | 25 | |
3 | Fiorentina | 12 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 15 | 25:10 | 25 | |
4 | Inter | 12 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 12 | 26:14 | 25 | |
5 | Lazio | 12 | 8 | 1 | 3 | 11 | 25:14 | 25 | |
6 | Juventus | 12 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 14 | 21:7 | 24 | |
7 | AC Milan | 11 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 20:14 | 18 | |
8 | Bologna | 11 | 4 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 15:13 | 18 | |
9 | Udinese | 12 | 5 | 1 | 6 | -3 | 15:18 | 16 | |
10 | Empoli | 12 | 3 | 6 | 3 | -1 | 9:10 | 15 | |
11 | Torino | 12 | 4 | 2 | 6 | -3 | 15:18 | 14 | |
12 | AS Roma | 12 | 3 | 4 | 5 | -3 | 14:17 | 13 | |
13 | Parma | 12 | 2 | 6 | 4 | -2 | 16:18 | 12 | |
14 | Verona | 12 | 4 | 0 | 8 | -10 | 17:27 | 12 | |
15 | Como | 12 | 2 | 4 | 6 | -10 | 13:23 | 10 | |
16 | Cagliari | 12 | 2 | 4 | 6 | -10 | 12:22 | 10 | |
17 | Genoa | 12 | 2 | 4 | 6 | -13 | 9:22 | 10 | |
18 | Lecce | 12 | 2 | 3 | 7 | -16 | 5:21 | 9 | |
19 | Monza | 12 | 1 | 5 | 6 | -5 | 10:15 | 8 | |
20 | Venezia | 12 | 2 | 2 | 8 | -10 | 11:21 | 8 | |
1 | Lazio | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 14:6 | 16 | |
2 | Napoli | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 11:5 | 15 | |
3 | Atalanta | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 20:8 | 15 | |
4 | Fiorentina | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 14:6 | 14 | |
5 | Inter | 7 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 16:9 | 14 | |
6 | Juventus | 7 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 9:3 | 13 | |
7 | Udinese | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 8:6 | 12 | |
8 | AC Milan | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 10:4 | 10 | |
9 | AS Roma | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 9:7 | 9 | |
10 | Verona | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 10:12 | 9 | |
11 | Lecce | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 5:13 | 8 | |
12 | Bologna | 5 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4:3 | 7 | |
13 | Torino | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 5:5 | 7 | |
14 | Empoli | 6 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1:4 | 6 | |
15 | Cagliari | 7 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 7:14 | 6 | |
16 | Venezia | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 6:7 | 6 | |
17 | Parma | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 8:10 | 5 | |
18 | Como | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 7:10 | 5 | |
19 | Genoa | 7 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 6:12 | 4 | |
20 | Monza | 7 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 5:9 | 3 | |
1 | Napoli | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 8:4 | 11 | |
2 | Fiorentina | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 11:4 | 11 | |
3 | Inter | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 10:5 | 11 | |
4 | Juventus | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 12:4 | 11 | |
5 | Bologna | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 11:10 | 11 | |
6 | Atalanta | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 11:7 | 10 | |
7 | Lazio | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 11:8 | 9 | |
8 | Empoli | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 8:6 | 9 | |
9 | AC Milan | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 10:10 | 8 | |
10 | Torino | 7 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 10:13 | 7 | |
11 | Parma | 6 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 8:8 | 7 | |
12 | Genoa | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3:10 | 6 | |
13 | Como | 8 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 6:13 | 5 | |
14 | Monza | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 5:6 | 5 | |
15 | Udinese | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 7:12 | 4 | |
16 | AS Roma | 6 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 5:10 | 4 | |
17 | Cagliari | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 5:8 | 4 | |
18 | Verona | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 7:15 | 3 | |
19 | Venezia | 7 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 5:14 | 2 | |
20 | Lecce | 6 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0:8 | 1 |
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