On Monday 29th April, as part of the 34th round of the Italian Serie A, Genoa will host Cagliari on their home ground. The home team have practically ensured their survival in the elite division and are comfortably positioned mid-table, whereas the islanders are only one point clear of the relegation zone.
Genoa: Martinez; Vogliacco, De Winter, Vasquez; Sabelli, Frendrup, Badelj, Martin; Gudmundsson; Ekuban, Retegui.
Cagliari: Scuffet; Hatzdiakos, Mina, Dossena; Nandez, Deiola, Makoumbou, Sulemana, Augello; Shomorudov, Lapadula.
Having returned to the elite division last summer, Genoa are ending the season without any jitters. Alberto Gilardino's team currently sits in 12th place in the Serie A table, with a comfortable 11-point cushion above the relegation zone. However, in recent weeks the 'griffins' have not been so strong, winning only two out of their last 11 league matches, drawing six times and losing four. Drawing with Fiorentina (1:1), Genoa lost at home to Lazio (0:1) last weekend.
Of course, the hosts occasionally gave the leading teams a hard time - beating Roma and drawing with Inter Milan, Napoli and Juventus - but, unsurprisingly, most of their success came against teams in the bottom half of the table (25 points against teams below than 11th place in Serie A). Genoa hasn't conceded more than one goal in each of the last five rounds. It's also worth noting that the red-blues don't perform too well at home: they've only gained 21 points in 16 home clashes scoring 20 and conceding 21.
Cagliari also achieved a promotion last summer and are now positioned 14th in the Serie A table, 4 points above the relegation zone. The Sardinians have been impressive in recent weeks: they have only lost once in their last nine rounds, winning three times and drawing five. The proteges of Claudio Ranieri triumphed over Atalanta (2:1), and last weekend they beat Inter (2:2) and Juventus (2:2).
Successful penalties by Gianluca Gaetano and Yerry Mina put the islanders ahead, but the Bianconeri fought back in the second half through Dusan Vlahovic and Federico Chiesa. Now the tricoloured team heads to the mainland, where they have won just one of 16 away matches since promotion; only Salernitana and Frosinone have picked up fewer points on the road this campaign. It should be noted that Cagliari have scored in 10 out of their last 11 domestic league matches.
In the last 20 Serie A matches against Genoa, the Islanders only have managed to keep a clean sheet in one, while they failed to score in four of the last six. The first round encounter ended with a home victory for Cagliari with a 2:1 scoreline.
In recent weeks, Genoa, having almost guaranteed their survival in the elite, have been slipping, while the fighting spirit of Cagliari pleases their supporters. The Islanders are only one point ahead of the relegation zone and a win on Monday will allow them to breathe a sigh of relief. I'm going to bet that the visitors will at least not suffer defeat.
Cagliari have been looking very decent in attack over the past few weeks and consistently score more than a goal per game. I confidently place a bet on the Islanders' individual total of over 1 goal.
Neither team will look to push the pace of the game; moreover, both teams average fewer than 5 corners per match. I'm betting on a total of under 8.5 corners.
With survival at stake, the visitors will not hold back in duels - I'm expecting at least three yellow cards for Ranieri's charges.
I'm placing a bet on a precise scoreline of 1:2 in favour of Cagliari.
# | Team | P | W | D | L | GD | G | PTS | |
1 | Inter | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 8:2 | 7 | |
2 | Juventus | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 6:0 | 7 | |
3 | Torino | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 5:3 | 7 | |
4 | Udinese | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4:2 | 7 | |
5 | Verona | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 5:3 | 6 | |
6 | Napoli | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 5:4 | 6 | |
7 | Empoli | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3:2 | 5 | |
8 | Lazio | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6:5 | 4 | |
9 | Parma | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4:4 | 4 | |
10 | Genoa | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | -1 | 3:4 | 4 | |
11 | Fiorentina | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3:3 | 3 | |
12 | Atalanta | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | -1 | 5:6 | 3 | |
13 | Lecce | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | -5 | 1:6 | 3 | |
14 | AC Milan | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | -1 | 5:6 | 2 | |
15 | Monza | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | -1 | 2:3 | 2 | |
16 | AS Roma | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | -1 | 1:2 | 2 | |
17 | Cagliari | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | -1 | 1:2 | 2 | |
18 | Bologna | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | -3 | 2:5 | 2 | |
19 | Venezia | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | -3 | 1:4 | 1 | |
20 | Como | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | -4 | 1:5 | 1 | |
1 | Inter | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6:0 | 6 | |
2 | Udinese | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3:1 | 6 | |
3 | Napoli | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5:1 | 6 | |
4 | Juventus | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3:0 | 4 | |
5 | Lazio | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5:3 | 4 | |
6 | Parma | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3:2 | 4 | |
7 | Torino | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2:1 | 3 | |
8 | Verona | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3:3 | 3 | |
9 | Lecce | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1:4 | 3 | |
10 | Fiorentina | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2:2 | 2 | |
11 | Cagliari | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1:1 | 2 | |
12 | Bologna | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2:2 | 2 | |
13 | Empoli | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0:0 | 1 | |
14 | Genoa | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2:4 | 1 | |
15 | AC Milan | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2:2 | 1 | |
16 | Atalanta | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0:0 | 0 | |
17 | Monza | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0:1 | 0 | |
18 | AS Roma | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1:2 | 0 | |
19 | Venezia | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0:1 | 0 | |
20 | Como | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0:0 | 0 | |
1 | Torino | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3:2 | 4 | |
2 | Empoli | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3:2 | 4 | |
3 | Juventus | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3:0 | 3 | |
4 | Verona | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2:0 | 3 | |
5 | Genoa | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1:0 | 3 | |
6 | Atalanta | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 5:6 | 3 | |
7 | Monza | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2:2 | 2 | |
8 | AS Roma | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0:0 | 2 | |
9 | Inter | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2:2 | 1 | |
10 | Udinese | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1:1 | 1 | |
11 | Fiorentina | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1:1 | 1 | |
12 | AC Milan | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3:4 | 1 | |
13 | Venezia | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1:3 | 1 | |
14 | Como | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1:5 | 1 | |
15 | Napoli | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0:3 | 0 | |
16 | Lazio | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1:2 | 0 | |
17 | Parma | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1:2 | 0 | |
18 | Lecce | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0:2 | 0 | |
19 | Cagliari | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0:1 | 0 | |
20 | Bologna | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0:3 | 0 |
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