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Action continues in Italy this weekend, with Cagliari hosting Spezia in Serie A action on Sunday.
Both Cagliari and Spezia occupy the same mid-table area at the moment – Cagliari in 11th and Spezia in 13th – but a win for either side could send them into the top 10 in Serie A.
Cagliari vs Spezia Head-to-Head
Cagliari have had mixed results throughout the 2020-21 campaign. It took them until their fourth match to register their first win, and since then they’ve alternated wins and losses.
In their last Serie A match, they were defeated by reigning champions Juventus, but this week saw them defeat Hellas Verona in the fourth round of the Coppa Italia.
Spezia have also seen mixed results in their debut Serie A season. They’ve picked up wins over Udinese and Benevento, and most recently drew with Champions League contenders Atalanta.
Like Cagliari, they also made it through the fourth round of the Coppa Italia this week, defeating Bologna 2-4 after extra time.
Due to Spezia only making it into Serie A this season, these sides have only played each other three times in the past. Cagliari won two of those meetings, with Spezia picking up a victory in the other encounter.
Cagliari form guide: W-L-W-L-W
Spezia form guide: W-L-W-D-W
Cagliari vs Spezia Team News
Cagliari will be without Luca Ceppitelli and Charalampos Lykogiannis due to injury, while Giovanni Simeone and Diego Godin are unavailable due to positive tests for COVID-19.
Injured: Luca Ceppitelli, Charalampos Lykogiannis
Doubtful: None
Suspended: None
Unavailable: Diego Godin, Giovanni Simeone
Spezia unfortunately have a lot of injury problems coming into this game. They’re missing seven first-team players – Jeroen Zoet, Andrej Galabinov, Cristian Dell’Orco, Paolo Bartolomei, Juan Manuel Ramos, Daniele Verde and Salvador Ferrer.
Injured: Jeroen Zoet, Andrej Galabinov, Cristian Dell’OrcoPaolo Bartolomei, Juan Manuel Ramos, Daniele Verde, Salvador Ferrer
Doubtful: None
Suspended: None
Cagliari vs Spezia Predicted XI
Cagliari predicted XI (4-2-3-1): Alessio Cragno, Gabriele Zappa, Sebastian Walukiewicz, Ragnar Klavan, Alessandro Tripaldelli, Razvan Marin, Marko Rog, Nahitan Nandez, Joao Pedro, Riccardo Sottil, Leonardo Pavoletti
Spezia predicted XI (4-3-3): Ivan Provedel, Federico Mattiello, Claudio Terzi, Julian Chabot, Simone Bastoni, Gennaro Acampora, Matteo Ricci, Giulio Maggiore, Diego Farias, M’Bala Nzola, Emmanuel Gyasi
Cagliari vs Spezia Prediction
Spezia have tightened up at the back in their last two Serie A games and were able to keep two clean sheets. Meanwhile, Cagliari have only failed to find the net on two occasions, one of which was their loss to Juventus.
With that in mind, the hosts seem likely to find the net at least once in this game, and with Spezia having some players out, we expect a narrow win for Cagliari on Sunday.
Prediction: Cagliari 2-1 Spezia
