Cagliari vs Sampdoria prediction, preview, team news and more

Sampdoria make the long trip south to Sardinia on Saturday, where they face Cagliari at the Sardegna Arena in a Serie A encounter.

The home side are 12th on the table, with Sampdoria just three points ahead of them in ninth position.

Cagliari followed their 1-0 win over Cremonese in the Coppa Italia with a 2-3 loss away to Bologna last Saturday.

Goals from Joao Pedro and Giovanni Simeone gave the Sardinians a 2-1 lead, but Roberto Soriano and Musa Barrow turned the game around in a four-minute spell for a depleted Bologna to grab a crucial win.

Sampdoria followed their 1-0 win over Salernitana in the cup with a 1-1 draw in the Derby della Lanterna against Genoa.

Jakub Jankto's screamer opened the scoring in the 23rd minute, but just five minutes later Gianluca Scamacca scored from a narrow angle to restore parity.

Keita Balde and Mikkel Damsgaard both spurned great chances to win the game for Sampdoria late on, as Genoa survived to grab a point.

Cagliari vs Sampdoria Head-to-Head

This fixture is generally an even contest, with Cagliari winning three times to Sampdoria's four in the last 10 games.

Cagliari defeated Sampdoria twice last December, a 4-3 win at home followed by a 2-1 win in the Coppa Italia three days later. Sampdoria won the reverse fixture in July once football resumed, a 3-0 win at the Marassi.

Cagliari form guide: L-W-W-W-L

Sampdoria form guide: W-W-W-W-D

Cagliari vs Sampdoria Team News

Cagliari

Eusebio di Francesco welcomed club captain Luca Ceppitelli back into group training with the squad, where the centre-back was also joined by the returning Alessandro Tripaldelli. Simone Pinna and Zito Luvumbo continued their therapies as they nurse long-term injuries.

Despite the returnees, Di Francesco is likely to stick to his settled starting XI.

Injured: Zito Luvumbo, Simone Pinna

Doubtful: Luca Ceppitelli, Alessandro Tripaldelli

Suspended: None

Sampdoria

Claudio Ranieri has a few niggling issues ahead of the trip to Sardinia, as Keita Balde tweaked a muscle in his right thigh in training and faces a late fitness test. Manolo Gabbiadini joined training with the squad, but is short of match fitness.

The Blucerchiati are expected to start the same lineup that drew against Genoa, with Claudio Ranieri unlikely to change his settled starting XI.

Injured: None

Doubtful: Manolo Gabbiadini, Keita Balde

Suspended: None

Cagliari vs Sampdoria Predicted XI

Cagliari Predicted XI (4-4-2): Alessio Cragno (GK); Gabriele Zappa, Sebastian Walukiewicz, Diego Godin, Charalampos Lykogiannis; Nahitan Nandez, Razvan Marin, Marko Rog, Riccardo Sottil; Joao Pedro, Giovanni Simeone

Sampdoria Predicted XI (4-4-2): Emil Audero (GK); Bartosz Bereszynski, Lorenzo Tonelli, Maya Yoshida, Tommaso Augello; Jakub Jankto, Albin Ekdal, Morten Thorsby, Mikkel Damsgaard; Gaston Ramirez, Fabio Quagliarella

Cagliari vs Sampdoria Prediction

Sampdoria's last win in Sardinia came 13 years ago, so history is clearly on Cagliari's side. However, Claudio Ranieri's men have shocked the likes of Lazio, Atalanta and Fiorentina this season, and with Fabio Quagliarella in fine form, they could grab a win.

Cagliari have scored 12 goals in their first six games, with Giovanni Simeone and Joao Pedro bang on form, so they definitely will make this an even contest.

Expect a high-scoring encounter, with Sampdoria ending their Sardinian hoodoo.

Prediction: Cagliari 2-3 Sampdoria