Cagliari vs Napoli
Serie A
Sunday
25th February 2024
Sardegna Arena
The most comprehensive preview, detailed analysis and reliable predictions of the Serie A fixture between Cagliari and Napoli.
Cagliari vs Napoli: Preview
Cagliari form analysis
Cagliari’s recent Serie A form paints a bleak picture as they languish rooted to the bottom of the table. A 3-1 home loss to fellow strugglers Frosinone kicked off a run of five straight defeats. Despite Isaac Sulemana’s opener, two late Frosinone goals sealed Cagliari’s fate. A 2-1 loss away at Torino followed before a 4-0 thrashing by Roma underlined Cagliari’s defensive issues. At Lazio, an early own goal set the tone for another defeat despite Gianluca Gaetano pulling one back as Lazio ran out 3-1 winners.
Most recently, Cagliari finally stopped the rot with a credible 1-1 draw away at Udinese – Gaetano cancelling out Jordan Zemura’s first half opener. Attackingly, Cagliari have relied too heavily on Gaetano for inspiration and lack a consistent goal threat. With the league’s leakiest defense, drastic improvements will be urgently needed for relegation battlers Cagliari to stand any chance of surviving.
Napoli form analysis
Napoli’s scintillating first half of the season hit its first minor bump over the last five Serie A games, registering two wins alongside two draws and their first league defeat. Victories over struggling Salernitana and Verona kept momentum going before back-to-back goalless draws away to Lazio and at home to high-flying AC Milan stalled their title charge. The latter marked only Napoli’s second league clean sheet of the campaign.
Sandwiched between was a battling 2-1 home win over Verona, relying on a late own goal and stunning Khvicha Kvaratskhelia winner to down the stubborn visitors. However, Napoli then suffered their first league loss away at AC Milan courtesy of Theo Hernandez’s winner – only their third goal conceded from open play all season. Most recently at home, Napoli needed a 90th minute Cyril Ngonge equalizer to scrape a 1-1 draw against battlers Genoa. So while still the team to beat, Napoli’s performances have slightly dropped off during this trickier period.
