Serie A | Gameweek 14

Nov 29, 2024 at 7.45pm UK

Sardegna Arena

Cagliarivs.Hellas Verona

Match preview

After three straight losses, Cagliari ended their run by holding AC Milan to a 3-3 draw. They came back from the international break with another point after a late strike in Genoa.

Davide Nicola's team were in the lead after just eight minutes at Marassi, but they let that lead slip and were ultimately grateful to record a 2-2 draw, with Roberto Piccoli converting a crucial penalty against his former club.

They've shown they can hold their own, with only the top two teams, Lazio and Atalanta BC, claiming more points from behind this season. But they often have to make up a deficit because of their leaky defence.

One thing that's worrying Nicola is that his 16th-placed side have let in at least two goals in each of their last six league games, as they head into the final fixture of November.

Next month is going to be a tough one, with tests against Fiorentina and Atalanta. But first, the Rossoblu have to face a direct rival in the battle for survival.

Cagliari has won nine of its last 10 matches against Verona, so history is on their side. However, they haven't won any of the teams' last four meetings in Sardinia.

Verona have gone nine games unbeaten against Cagliari in the top flight, winning one and drawing one last season. That's the Gialloblu's longest unbeaten streak against any opponent in Serie A.

They're also one point above their hosts in the table, which looks good on paper.

However, after a 5-0 thrashing by the reigning champions Inter Milan last weekend, no other club has conceded more goals across Europe's top five leagues in 2024-25. Verona's 'goals against' rate stands at just under 2.5 per game.

In fact, only one team has conceded more goals after the first 13 rounds of any Serie A season this century – Benevento (33, in 2017) – and head coach Paolo Zanetti is under pressure to improve.

The Scaligeri will be heading south with just one win on the road this term. They'll be hoping to avoid slipping into the drop zone by Sunday, as the bottom half of the table is very congested.

Recent Performance

Cagliari Serie A form:WLLLDD

Hellas Verona Serie A form:LLLWLL

Team News

Davide Nicola has a clean bill of health, so he can pick freely from his squad on Friday. His main choice might be between the posts.

Albanian international Alen Škerini started against Genoa, but usual first-choice goalkeeper Simone Scuffet might be back in goal for the game against Verona.

Centre-forward Roberto Piccoli, who scored last time out, will now meet another of his former loan clubs, having spent a few months at Stadio Bentegodi earlier in his nomadic career. It's interesting to note that despite scoring 16 goals in Serie A so far, the Atalanta-owned striker has yet to provide a single assist.

The visitors will be missing Juan Cruz, midfield mainstay Ondrej Duda and Danish defender Martin Frese, but Diego Coppola might be back in action after the ankle sprain that kept him out of last week's loss to Inter.

Against less challenging opponents than the Serie A champions, Paolo Zanetti may revert to a four-man defence, which would also mean that either Casper Tengstedt or Daniel Mosquera would drop down to the bench.

Possible starting lineup

Cagliari possible starting lineup:

Scuffet; Zappa, Mina, Luperto, Augello; Marin, Adopo; Zortea, Gaetano, Luvumbo; Piccoli

Hellas Verona possible starting lineup:

Montipo; Tchatchoua, Dawidowicz, Magnani, Bradaric; Belahyane, Serdar; Suslov, Harroui, Lazovic; Tengstedt