Napoli vs Cagliari prediction: ITALY: Serie A betting tips on match 2023-12-15 17:00.
Stadio Diego Armando Maradona was buzzing on Tuesday evening as Napoli beat Braga to progress to the UEFA Champions League knockouts for a third successive campaign. That result ended a run of three consecutive defeats to strong opposition in Real Madrid, Inter Milan and Juventus, the last two of which have helped to push the defending Scudetto champions to outside the top-five ahead of this round, as they now bid to avoid losing three straight SA games without scoring for the first time since March 2009.
Surprisingly, most of Napoli’s problems stem from their home form, with only a solitary point picked up across the last four league games here (L3) which has led to them amassing the fifth-lowest home points tally in SA this campaign. A visit from Cagliari may further add to the anxiety, as the Neapolitans have an indifferent recent record across their last three home H2Hs (W1, D1, L1).
How visiting Cagliari would love to pile on the misery for home fans then, as they start this round just a point above the bottom-three. The away side registered a 2-1 win over Sassuolo last time out thanks to two stoppage time goals, with that result continuing their recent renaissance, having now picked up 11 of their 13 seasonal points across their last seven SA games (W3, D2, L2).
Claudio Ranieri’s side still have a lot of work to do though if they’re to avoid an intermediate return to Serie B. That begins with improving their away record which is the joint-worst in SA by way of points (two) ahead of the round, whilst their leaky backline have now conceded 12 goals across their last six away league trips (D1, L5).
Players to watch: Matteo Politano forced an own goal in Napoli’s win over Braga, whilst his two goal scoring H2H appearances have both ended in victory. Looking to spoil his record here will be Leonardo Pavoletti, who’s now scored his last three league goals in stoppage time, including Cagliari’s last in their win over Sassuolo.
Hot stat: Napoli are yet to drop a point in this league campaign when scoring first (W6).