Cagliari vs Napoli Preview & Prediction | 2024-25 Italian Serie A
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On the island of Sardinia this weekend we have the potential for fireworks on the touchline as Cagliari’s Davide Nicola welcomes the always combustible and already frustrated Antonio Conte and his Napoli team this weekend.
KICK-OFF DATE/TIME: Sunday 15th September, 2024 - UK – 5:00pm / US ET – 12:00pm / US PT – 9:00am
HOW TO WATCH ON TV: UK – TNT Sports / US – Select matches will be televised on CBS Sports so it is worth checking their schedule
HOW TO WATCH ONLINE: UK – TNT Sports OneFootball / US – Paramount+
CAGLIARI PREVIEW: MIRALCES OF NICOLA
Throughout his managerial career, Davide Nicola has pulled off miracles. It was at Empoli last season but he has done the same at both Crotone and Salernitana. This time his task is to ensure Claudio Ranieri’s work in getting and keeping Caliari up to and in Serie A does not go waste.
The Sardinians began the season with a 1-1 draw against Roma at home before they then faced newly-promoted Como and were frustrated with another 1-1 draw at the Sardegna Arena. Before the international break, they suffered a 1-0 defeat down south to a Lecce side that were down to the ten men from just before half-time.
NAPOLI PREVIEW: BIZARRE END TO THE WINDOW
In what was a bizarre summer transfer window, Napoli ended it weirdly, too, after months of Antonio Conte’s complaints. His transfer budget, Victor Osimhen, eventually stayed but went to Galatasaray on loan but the Neapolitans still spent over £100 million on the likes of David Neres, Alessandro Buongiorno, Billy Gilmour, Scott McTominay and Romelu Lukaku.
The 2022/23 Serie A winners, who humiliated themselves in the defence of their title with a ninth placed finish last season, started this season by humiliating themselves again with a 3-0 defeat at Hellas Verona before back-to-back home wins, albeit both unconvincingly, against Bologna and then Parma.
CAGLIARI TEAM NEWS: FULLY FIT CAGLIARI
Bar a slight doubt over fringe player Giuseppe Ciocci, Davide Nicola is blessed with having a fully fit and available Cagliari squad to choose from for this weekend’s visit of Napoli.
They were unable to add many players over the summer but Gianluca Gaetano, on loan from their opponents, could be a key creative spark in midfield for them.
PREDICTED XI (3-5-2): Scuffet; Zappa, Yerry Mina, Luperto; Azzi, Deiola, Prati, Marin, Augello; Luvumbo, Piccoli
UNAVAILABLE:
QUESTIONABLE: Ciocci (Injured)
NAPOLI TEAM NEWS: POTENTIAL FUN
With a fully fit and available squad for this weekend, it is intriguing how Antonio Conte is going to try and fit all of his news toys into his eleven but it is also quite exciting.
The prospect of a front three involving Matteo Politano alongside new signing Romelu Lukaku and Georgia’s star Khvicha Kvaratskhelia does sound quite promising.
PREDICTED XI (3-4-3): Meret; Di Lorenzo, Rrahmani, Buongiorno; Mazzocchi, Anguissa, Lobotka, Mathias Olivera; Politano, Lukaku, Kvaratskhelia
UNAVAILABLE:
QUESTIONABLE:
CAGLIARI VS NAPOLI PREDICTION
The task for Davide Nicola is to show he can come in and put a team together from the start of a season, rather than do the classic fire fighting jobs towards the end of a campaign. Napoli were fortunate to beat Parma, who had an outfielder in goal, with two stoppage-time strikes but Antonio Conte cannot complain that he doesn’t have enough pieces to put together something quite decent now and a Napoli win should be expected.
CAGLIARI VS NAPOLI TIP: NAPOLI TO WIN
