Fiorentina vs Cagliari prediction: ITALY: Serie A betting tips on match 2024-12-07 11:30.
[p]Fiorentina will be emotionally charged as they return to Serie A action for the first time since their midfielder Edoardo Bove collapsed in last weekend’s abandoned game against Inter Milan. Head coach Raffaele Palladino won’t be short of ways to motivate his troops who are in the running for a top-four finish this season and could equal their club record of eight consecutive top-flight victories, achieved back in 1960.[/p]
[p]Recent form at Stadio Artemio Franchi suggests the home team should fancy their chances of creating history as they won their last four completed league games here, averaging exactly three goals per match. La Viola could hardly have asked for a more favourable opponent than Cagliari, winning three of the last four league H2Hs (D1) whilst scoring three goals in each victory.[/p]
[p]Cagliari halted their five-game winless run (D2, L3) with a 1-0 win over Verona last round, keeping them three points away from the relegation zone ahead of this round. Their challenge now is to continue that winning momentum as Davide Nicola’s side have won consecutive competitive games just once this season, while the last time they did so in Serie A was in March.[/p]
[p]The Sardinians have historically struggled on their trips to Florence, having won just five of 42 top-flight H2Hs (D8, L29), whilst they will be hard-pressed to find answers this time after winning just once on the road (D2, L3) in this campaign. Cagliari’s defensive performances will be under intense scrutiny here as they conceded exactly twice in four of those matches, whilst the referee could also have a busy game as those six games produced five red cards![/p]
[p]Players to watch: Fiorentina’s Robin Gosens has seen all three competitive goals this season serve as the last strike of the match, each time beyond the 70th minute. His former Atalanta compatriot Roberto Piccoli could also be on the scoresheet late on, as his last three league goals were also beyond the 70th minute.[/p]
[p]Hot stat: 13 of Fiorentina’s last 14 completed home league games saw both teams score.[/p]
[p][i]Written by Sridhar B[/i][/p]