Cagliari will be bidding to move out of the relegation zone in Serie A when they welcome Torino to Unipol Domus on Monday night.
The home side are currently 19th in the table, having picked up just nine points from their opening 15 matches of the season, while Torino sit 13th with 18 points to show from their first 15 games.
Match preview
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Cagliari have struggled to get going in Italy's top flight this season, picking up just one win from their 15 matches, and a total of nine points from 15 matches has left them in 19th position in the table.
Walter Mazzarri's side are on a three-game unbeaten run in the league, though, sharing the points with Sassuolo, Salernitana and Hellas Verona in their last three fixtures at this level.
There is still plenty of football left to be played this season, and the strugglers are only two points behind 17th-placed Spezia, although the picture could have changed by the time that this fixture kicks off.
Cagliari finished 16th in Serie A last season, just four points above the relegation zone, and it would not be a surprise to see them in and around the bottom three for much of the campaign.
Gli Isolani have won two of their last three league meetings with Torino, though, while they have only lost one of their last six Serie A fixtures with their opponents in this contest.
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Torino, meanwhile, will enter Monday's contest off the back of a 2-2 draw with Empoli on Thursday night; Ivan Juric's side actually took a two-goal lead inside the opening 15 minutes of the contest but were forced to settle for a share of the spoils, with Empoli fighting back to claim a point.
A record of five wins, three draws and seven defeats from 15 matches has seen the Turin outfit collect 18 points, which has left them in 13th position in the table.
Torino have won two, lost two and drawn one of their last five in Serie A, but they have lost each of their last four on their travels, which is slightly concerning at this stage of the campaign.
Like Cagliari, the Bull only just survived in Serie A last term, ending the campaign four points above the relegation zone, so the team can be pleased with their points tally thus far, with eight points currently separating them from the bottom three.
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Team News
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Cagliari will have to make late checks on both Paolo Farago and Diego Godin, but Sebastian Walukiewicz will definitely be absent for the home side on Monday night.
Alessio Cragno should return between the sticks, though, having missed out against Verona last weekend due to personal reasons.
There are not expected to be any major surprises in the home side's XI here, with Joao Pedro and Keita Balde, who have 11 league goals between them, featuring as the front two.
As for Torino, a lengthy injury list includes Cristian Ansaldi, Andrea Belotti, Simone Verdi, Rolando Mandragora, Ricardo Rodriguez and Koffi Djidji, while Wilfried Singo will miss out through suspension.
Singo's absence, courtesy of his red card against Empoli, will open the door for Mergim Vojvoda to start, while Josip Brekalo is also pushing to be involved in the final third of the field.
Antonio Sanabria has only managed two league goals for Torino thus far this season but should again lead the line on Monday evening with support from Dennis Praet.
Cagliari possible starting lineup:
Cragno; Caceres, Ceppitelli, Carboni; Bellanova, Grassi, Marin, Nandez, Dalbert; Balde, Pedro
Torino possible starting lineup:
Milinkovic-Savic; Zima, Bremer, Buongiorno; Aina, Lukic, Pobega, Vojvoda; Brekalo, Sanabria, Praet
We say: Cagliari 2-2 Torino
Cagliari's position in the table is slightly surprisingly considering that they have two forwards with 11 league goals between them this season. We are expecting the hosts to net a couple more on Monday, but they have conceded too many goals this term, and Torino could net two of their own in an entertaining draw.
Top tip
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Cagliari win with a probability of 40.3%. A win for Torino had a probability of 33.38% and a draw had a probability of 26.3%.
The most likely scoreline for a Cagliari win was 1-0 with a probability of 10.22%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (8.59%) and 2-0 (7.02%). The likeliest Torino win was 0-1 (9.12%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.52%). The actual scoreline of 1-1 was predicted with a 12.5% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole correctly predicted a draw in this match.
