Cagliari vs Roma Preview & Prediction | 2024-25 Italian Serie A
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Following their dramatic ‘great escape’ last season, Cagliari are beginning a new era in a post-Claudio Ranieri world and they begin their season by welcoming Daniele De Rossi’s Roma across the water to Sardinia.
KICK-OFF DATE/TIME: Sunday 18th August, 2024 - UK – 7:45pm / US ET – 2:45pm / US PT – 11:45am
HOW TO WATCH ON TV: UK – TNT Sports OR Not televised / US – Select matches will be televised on CBS Sports so it is worth checking their schedule
HOW TO WATCH ONLINE: UK – discovery+ OR Cannot be streamed / US – Paramount+
CAGLIARI PREVIEW: ANOTHER BATTLE SEEMS LIKELY
Cagliari gained promotion to the top-flight at the end of the 2022/23 campaign via the Serie B playoffs and they managed to avoid the drop in spectacular fashion under the management of Claudio Ranieri. The veteran has now retired from the managerial game, for now at least, and has been replaced by the miracle worker, Davide Nicola.
Nicola has produced great escapes with Salernitana and Crotone – and he did so again last season with Empoli, too. He is now in charge of I Sardi, who will be tasking him with defying his reputation and actually building a sustainable side that will now require any end of season heroics.
ROMA PREVIEW: FLASH IN THE PAN OR A SERIOUS SIDE
In January last season, Jose Mourinho was sacked by Roma with the Giallorossi sinking down towards the middle-of-the-table. He was replaced by club legend Daniele De Rossi on an interim basis but an excellent few months to start his tenure meant Roma were left with little option but to give him the job on a permanent basis.
Now the former SPAL boss must show whether or not that was a honeymoon period and a flash in the pan or whether he is a serious coach. The week building up to the season has been dominated by the impending departure of Paulo Dybala to Al Qadsiah in the Saudi Pro League, which has not been a brilliant distraction from the start of the season.
CAGLIARI TEAM NEWS: NO YERRY MINA
Cagliari have a couple of injury concerns for this weekend’s visit of the Romans with former Everton centre-back Yerry Mina, blighted by injuries last season, once again sidelined.
Davide Nicola has always been generally tactically flexible but his preferred formation tends to be a flat 3-5-2 system so the expectation will be that Cagliari also play that way.
PREDICTED XI (3-5-2): Scuffet; Hatzidiakos, Luperto, Augello; Zortea, Makoumbou, Adopo, Jankto, Zappa; Pavoletti, Gianluca Lapadula
UNAVAILABLE: Ciocci (Injured), Yerry Mina (Injured)
QUESTIONABLE:
ROMA TEAM NEWS: FULLY FIT ROMANS
Daniele De Rossi is blessed with a fully fit and available squad for this weekend but, albeit not yet confirmed, there is an expectation that Paulo Dybala will have left the club by the time they face Cagliari.
Tammy Abraham has been linked with a move to AC Milan throughout the summer but he has discussed a desire to stay and prove himself to ‘be back’ so the pressure will be on the Englishman.
PREDICTED XI (4-3-3): Svilar; Celik, Mancini, Ndicka, Angelino; Pellegrini, Paredes, Cristante; Matias Soule, Dovbyk, El Shaarawy
UNAVAILABLE:
QUESTIONABLE:
CAGLIARI VS ROMA PREDICTION
Cagliari may not kick into gear until late in the season with Davide Nicola’s experience and history being that of last gasp survival. They welcome a Roma team that have a few issues to deal with this summer and Daniele De Rossi immediately under a bit of pressure because the Giallorossi did actually end up finishing last season quite poorly. They were often entertaining to watch, though, so a game in which both teams score in Sardinia may well be on the cards.
CAGLIARI VS ROMA TIP: BOTH TEAMS TO SCORE
