Cagliari hosts Udinese in Serie A at Unipol Domus, with the teams separated by two places in the ranking. Cagliari recently ended a three-match winless streak, winning 2-0 against Hellas Verona, and seeks consecutive victories for the first time this season. Udinese, however, has struggled on the road, facing a string of losses and missing key players due to injuries and suspensions. With confidence low and their top scorers unavailable, Cagliari hopes to secure a narrow 1-0 victory to improve their standing and end their poor home record against Udinese.
Sports Mole offers a preview of Saturday’s Serie A matchup between Cagliari and Udinese, including predictions, team news, and possible lineups.
Cagliari sits two places behind Udinese in the Serie A standings as they prepare for the gameweek 35 clash at Unipol Domus on Saturday.
Despite being eight points behind their 12th-placed foes, the Sardinians aim to hand the Udine side their fourth consecutive away defeat, which would reignite their hopes of surpassing Kosta Runjaic‘s team in the closing rounds.
Match preview
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Cagliari broke a three-match Serie A winless streak last time against Hellas Verona, securing a 2-0 victory, marking only their third away triumph in the top flight this season and their first since beating Monza 2-1 on January 5.
After finally ending their long wait for an away win, Davide Nicola‘s side aims for back-to-back top-flight victories for the first time this season, having not achieved this since beating Empoli (1-0) and Salernitana (4-2) in March 2024.
Results at home have been mixed for the 14th-placed team, managing just one win from their last three outings in front of their supporters and two from the last five.
Even though Udinese is on a prolonged winless run, the home crowd will enter Saturday’s match mindful of their unfavorable record in this fixture, having suffered three defeats and two draws in their last five Serie A home games against the Little Zebras.
This knowledge should uplift travelling fans, even if the White and Blacks come into gameweek 35 without a league win since early March.
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Despite their two-month stretch without a win, Runjaic’s squad recently halted a five-match losing streak against Bologna, a team in contention for Europe, on home turf. The away squad hopes to carry that positive momentum into their match in Cagliari.
However, that goal is far from guaranteed given the Little Zebras’ tough times away from Udine, evident from their losses to Inter Milan (2-1), Genoa (1-0), and Torino (2-0).
With two consecutive matches on the road ending in scoreless results, the confidence within the visitors’ squad may be wavering ahead of their trip to Sardinia.
Considering that Runjaic’s team previously endured four straight defeats on the road earlier in the season—losing to Roma (3-0), AC Milan (1-0), Venezia (3-2), and Atalanta (2-1) between September and November—travelling supporters might understandably fear a similar outcome this weekend.
This concern is heightened by the Friulians’ goalscoring struggles, with Udinese failing to find the net in five of their last six Serie A games leading into another encounter with their Sardinian rivals.
Cagliari Serie A form:
Udinese Serie A form:
Team News
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While the Sardinians have no players suspended, Gabriele Zappa is one yellow card shy of a one-match ban.
Yerry Mina is sidelined with an injury and isn’t expected back from a thigh issue until late May.
Of Roberto Piccoli‘s nine goals for Cagliari, three have been match-winning contributions, and he looks for another influential performance this weekend.
The visitors face multiple absences due to suspensions and injuries: Martin Payero and Kingsley Ehizibue will serve bans, while Florian Thauvin (ankle), Jordan Zemura (calf), Jurgen Ekkelenkamp (thigh), Lorenzo Lucca (calf), and Isaak Toure (knee) are all injured.
With 10-goal forward Lucca and eight-goal Thauvin expected to be unavailable, the away side will miss two players whose combined 18 goals account for 50% of the team’s total of 36 top-flight goals.
Cagliari possible starting lineup:
Caprile; Zappa, Palomino, Luperto; Zortea, Adopo, Makoumbou, Marin, Augello; Luvumbo, Piccoli
Udinese possible starting lineup:
Okoye; Kristensen, Bijol, Solet; Modesto, Atta, Karlstrom, Lovric, Kamara; Bravo, Davis
We say: Cagliari 1-0 Udinese
Though a draw may be likely, Cagliari believes they can secure a crucial goal at Udinese’s expense.
Given that the Little Zebras are missing their two top scoring contributors, Nicola’s team will aim to muster enough firepower to end a five-match winless streak in Sardinia against their Saturday opponents.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines, and more for this match please click here.