Cagliari vs Como prediction: ITALY: Serie A betting tips on match 2024-08-25 16:30.
[p]New manager Davide Nicola has made an encouraging start to life in the dugout at Cagliari, following up a 3-1 Coppa Italia victory over second-tier Carrarese with a 0-0 draw against Roma in their Serie A opener. The boss admitted he took great “satisfaction” from his team’s performance in that game, as summer signings Sebastiano Luperto, Roberto Piccoli and Michel Adopo made their league debuts for the club. [/p]
[p]Islanders fans may be wary of being overly optimistic though, given that a goalless stalemate against Torino at the start of the 2023/24 league campaign was the beginning of a nine-game winless run (D3, L6). While half of those defeats came at home, encouragement can be found from the fact that when Cagliari did finally break their duck, it came against newly-promoted opposition (Frosinone).[/p]
[p]Opponents Como will be hoping that isn’t a good omen from their point of view, particularly after receiving a rude awakening on their return to the top-flight. Last season’s Serie B runners up marked their return to Serie A for the first time since 2003 with a hefty 3-0 defeat at the hands of Juventus, a result which manager Cesc Fà bregas called a “dose of reality” for supporters. [/p]
[p]Perhaps most concerning for the Spaniard was his side’s lack of threat going forward, as Como managed just one shot of any description against Juve, and that didn’t arrive until the final 15 minutes of play! Perhaps teething problems were inevitable for a side who brought in over a dozen players this summer, but Fà bregas will be desperate to get off the mark as soon as possible regardless.[/p]
[p]Key battle: Cagliari forward Zito Luvumbo has netted first or last in his last eight goalscoring appearances. Looking to thwart him will be Como goalkeeper Pepe Reina, who has never lost in eight previous H2Hs (W6, D2), keeping five clean sheets in the process.[/p]
[p]Hot stat: Cagliari have only scored one first-half goal in their last six Serie A outings.[/p]
[p][i]Written by Matt Jones[/i][/p]