Venezia vs Cagliari prediction: ITALY: Serie A betting tips on match 2024-12-21 14:00.
[p]An agonising 95th-minute equaliser by Juventus prevented bottom-of-the-table Venezia from picking up their first away win since getting promoted back to Serie A in the summer, but Eusebio Di Francesco’s men have at least earned successive draws to end a run of four straight defeats. [/p]
[p]Venezia urgently need a victory though, as they sit five points adrift of safety ahead of the weekend and prepare to welcome fellow strugglers Cagliari to Stadio Pier Luigi Penzo. They probably aren’t an ideal opponent though, as the Lagunari haven’t won any of their last three home H2Hs and have secured just one win in their last seven meetings at any venue (D4, L2). [/p]
[p]Despite their slight superiority in recent editions of this fixture, Cagliari will undoubtedly arrive in Venice with a little trepidation, as they find themselves only four points above their hosts in 18th after suffering frustrating 1-0 defeats to Fiorentina and Atalanta. Although those results are encouraging to some degree given the quality of the opposition, it’s a huge come down off a three-match unbeaten run (W1, D2). [/p]
[p]Their latest encounter – a 4-0 thrashing at the hands of Juventus in the Coppa Italia on Tuesday – means that the Sardinians now face the prospect of losing four consecutive games without scoring for the first time since September 2008! However With Davide Nicola at the helm though, Cagliari’s may feel confident about their chances on Sunday, given that the 51-year-old has a strong career record in the dugout against Di Francesco (W4, D2, L3) and won his only previous clash against Venezia as a head coach. [/p]
[p]Players to watch: Francesco Zampano’s return from injury has seen him register an assist in both of his last two games for Venezia, but the wing-back is walking a disciplinary tightrope, as a yellow card here will see him rack up his fifth booking of the season. The last player to record an assist for Cagliari was Mattia Felici for what proved to be the winner against Hellas Verona in late November – and the attacker also set up a goal for Feralpisalò in Serie B against Venezia last term.[/p]
[p]Hot stat: There has been at least one first-half goal in all of Cagliari’s away games this season.[/p]
[p][i]Written by Alex Bowmer[/i][/p]