On Sunday, 14th April, as part of the 32nd round of the Italian Serie A, "Inter" is to host "Cagliari" on home ground. A second-half comeback saw the Nerazzurri conquer Udinese, while their Sardinian counterparts remarkably defeated Atalanta to stretch their safety margin from the relegation zone to 4 points.
"Inter": Sommer; Bisseck, Acerbi, Bastoni; Darmian, Barella, Calhanoglu, Mkhitaryan, Dimarco; Arnautovic, Thuram.
"Cagliari": Scuffet; Zappa, Mina, Dossena, Augello; Makoumbou, Sulemana, Prati; Gaetano, Oristanio; Lapadula.
The duel will take place in Milan at the Giuseppe Meazza Stadium.
With a fourteen-point lead in Serie A over the nearest pursuers, "Inter" has practically guaranteed themselves a triumphant win in the Scudetto race. This achievement will make Nerazzurri the second club after Juventus in Italy to have the coveted second star on their jersey – and it can happen within the next few weeks. In the absence of competitors, the Lombards have lost only one match in the league in late September - against Sassuolo. Shortly before the international break in March, the Nerazzurri broke a run of 10 consecutive victories, drawing 1:1 with Napoli.
Following this, they resumed their winning stride, beating Empoli (2:0) and Udinese last Monday (1:2) thanks to goals from Calhanoglu and Frattesi. After being knocked out of the national cup and the Champions League in the round of 1/8 final, Simone Inzaghi's charges can only focus on the domestic league. It comes as no surprise that "Inter" is the best team in Serie A in terms of home games: they collected 41 points from 16 home matches, scored 39 goals and conceded 8.
Having returned to the top division last summer, at present, "Cagliari" occupies the 14th place in the Serie A table standings, being 4 points clear from the danger zone. In recent weeks, the "islanders" have improved their performances somewhat: Claudio Ranieri's charges have lost only once in the last seven rounds, winning thrice and drew the same number of matches. After the international break in March, "Cagliari" claimed a 1:1 draw with "Verona", and last weekend they beat "Atalanta" 2:1 due to Nicolas Viola's goal.
Only "Frosinone" this season has picked up fewer away points than Ranieri's charges, however, in the last three away games, the guests have conceded less than a goal per game on average. "Cagliari" hasn't been lucky with the schedule at the closing stages of the campaign: in the coming weeks, the underdog is to play against "Juventus", "Milan" and "Fiorentina".
In the first round, "Inter" won against "Cagliari" on the road with a score of 2:0. Moreover, the Nerazzurri triumphed in the last five head-to-head meetings.
By scoring a goal against "Cagliari" tonight, the hosts will set a new club record for Serie A matches scored consecutively (40 rounds). The Nerazzurri have been knocked out of all cup competitions in recent weeks, so they can focus on the national championship. "Cagliari" is extremely unsuccessful performing away from home and last stole points from "Inter" back in January 2020. My prediction is a victory for the home team with a handicap of -1.5.
Even without the suspended Martinez, the Nerazzurri have sufficient scoring power: Arnautovic and Sanchez are eager to seize the chance offered, and there's still Thuram. I confidently place a bet on the favourite's individual total over 2.5 goals.
"Inter" significantly surpasses the rival in terms of class and will be threatening "Cagliari's" goal throughout the entire 90 minutes - I bet on the home team's individual total corners over 6.5.
"Cagliari" will have a lot of defending to do, and thus, the visitors will inevitably commit fouls - I anticipate the underdog's victory in yellow cards.
I'll place a bet on the exact score of 3:0 in favor of "Inter".
# | Team | P | W | D | L | GD | G | PTS | |
1 | Napoli | 11 | 8 | 1 | 2 | 10 | 18:8 | 25 | |
2 | Inter | 11 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 12 | 25:13 | 24 | |
3 | Atalanta | 11 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 15 | 29:14 | 22 | |
4 | Fiorentina | 11 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 13 | 22:9 | 22 | |
5 | Lazio | 11 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 10 | 24:14 | 22 | |
6 | Juventus | 11 | 5 | 6 | 0 | 12 | 19:7 | 21 | |
7 | AC Milan | 10 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 17:11 | 17 | |
8 | Udinese | 11 | 5 | 1 | 5 | -2 | 14:16 | 16 | |
9 | Bologna | 10 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 12:11 | 15 | |
10 | Torino | 11 | 4 | 2 | 5 | -1 | 15:16 | 14 | |
11 | Empoli | 11 | 3 | 5 | 3 | -1 | 8:9 | 14 | |
12 | AS Roma | 11 | 3 | 4 | 4 | -2 | 12:14 | 13 | |
13 | Verona | 11 | 4 | 0 | 7 | -8 | 16:24 | 12 | |
14 | Parma | 11 | 1 | 6 | 4 | -3 | 14:17 | 9 | |
15 | Como | 11 | 2 | 3 | 6 | -10 | 12:22 | 9 | |
16 | Cagliari | 11 | 2 | 3 | 6 | -10 | 9:19 | 9 | |
17 | Genoa | 11 | 2 | 3 | 6 | -13 | 8:21 | 9 | |
18 | Monza | 11 | 1 | 5 | 5 | -4 | 10:14 | 8 | |
19 | Venezia | 11 | 2 | 2 | 7 | -9 | 10:19 | 8 | |
20 | Lecce | 11 | 2 | 2 | 7 | -16 | 4:20 | 8 | |
1 | Lazio | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 14:6 | 16 | |
2 | Napoli | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 11:5 | 15 | |
3 | Inter | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 15:8 | 13 | |
4 | Atalanta | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 18:7 | 12 | |
5 | Udinese | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 8:6 | 12 | |
6 | Fiorentina | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 11:5 | 11 | |
7 | Juventus | 6 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 7:3 | 10 | |
8 | AC Milan | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 10:4 | 10 | |
9 | AS Roma | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 7:4 | 9 | |
10 | Verona | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 10:12 | 9 | |
11 | Bologna | 5 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4:3 | 7 | |
12 | Torino | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 5:5 | 7 | |
13 | Lecce | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4:12 | 7 | |
14 | Empoli | 6 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1:4 | 6 | |
15 | Venezia | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 5:5 | 6 | |
16 | Parma | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 8:10 | 5 | |
17 | Como | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 7:10 | 5 | |
18 | Cagliari | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 4:11 | 5 | |
19 | Genoa | 6 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 5:11 | 3 | |
20 | Monza | 6 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 5:8 | 3 | |
1 | Inter | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 10:5 | 11 | |
2 | Fiorentina | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 11:4 | 11 | |
3 | Juventus | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 12:4 | 11 | |
4 | Napoli | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 7:3 | 10 | |
5 | Atalanta | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 11:7 | 10 | |
6 | Bologna | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 8:8 | 8 | |
7 | Empoli | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 7:5 | 8 | |
8 | AC Milan | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 7:7 | 7 | |
9 | Torino | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 10:11 | 7 | |
10 | Lazio | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 10:8 | 6 | |
11 | Genoa | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3:10 | 6 | |
12 | Monza | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 5:6 | 5 | |
13 | Udinese | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 6:10 | 4 | |
14 | AS Roma | 6 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 5:10 | 4 | |
15 | Parma | 5 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 6:7 | 4 | |
16 | Como | 7 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 5:12 | 4 | |
17 | Cagliari | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 5:8 | 4 | |
18 | Verona | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 6:12 | 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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