Cagliari are nine places behind seventh-placed Torino in the Serie A table heading into Sunday's gameweek eight clash at Unipol Domus.
The Sardinians seemed to find some form before the international break, while their higher-placed opponents went into the hiatus on the back of consecutive losses.
Match preview
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While the high points of Cagliari's embryonic season were their Coppa Italia victories against Carrarese (2-1) and Cremonese (1-0), the results before the two-week pause further improved the mood in Sardinia.
Davide Nicola's men have relied on late goals to notch their first league victory against Parma (3-2) and peg back Juventus at the start of the month in the 1-1 draw.
Following those results, the Rossoblu are 16th in the competition, albeit one clear of 18th-placed Genoa and two ahead of Monza and Venezia, the two other clubs in the bottom three.
Cagliari hope the break has not slowed their seeming momentum, and they enter this weekend looking to extend their three-match undefeated streak in all competitions.
Having already twice experienced unbeaten Serie A streaks lasting three matches or more in 2024 — four-game streaks on both occasions — Nicola aims to record a third by avoiding a home loss.
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The wheels appear to have come off for Torino following an undefeated start that saw the Bull avoid losing in six to start the campaign (five in Serie A).
Since the Turin-based outfit beat Hellas Verona 3-2 in the penultimate week of September, they have been eliminated in the domestic cup by Empoli (2-1) and been on the wrong end of 3-2 losses against Lazio and defending champions Inter Milan.
Despite losing at San Siro before the pause, the Granata did not roll over against Simone Inzaghi's men after Guillermo Maripan's 20th-minute dismissal, with the team's reaction encouraging supporters in defeat.
Those Torino fans will hope their players return to form when their team tussles with Nicola, who managed the Bull for a few months in 2021 and guided the club to safety after taking over in January of the same year.
Having seen his team concede 10 times in four matches in all competitions, Paolo Vanoli hopes for improved organisation in Sunday's fixture as the Turin club aim to end their losing streak.
Team News
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Nicola has a lengthy injury list, with Jakub Jankto (ankle), Leonardo Pavoletti (foot), Gianluca Lapadula, Mateusz Wieteska (both have muscle problems) and Adam Obert (thigh) anticipated to miss out for Cagliari.
Razvan Marin has netted for the Sardinians against Parma and Juventus and aims to score for the third consecutive league fixture.
Adam Masina could replace Maripan in the back three, with the latter suspended for Torino after a first-half sending-off at Inter in gameweek seven.
Although Vanja Milinkovic-Savic is reportedly doubtful due to a knee issue, the goalkeeper is anticipated to shake off the problem.
However, Ivan Ilic (Achilles) will be uninvolved, while Duvan Zapata, Perr Schuurs and Emirhan Ilkhan are all expected to miss this weekend's game because of knee injuries.
Cagliari possible starting lineup:
Scuffet; Zappa, Mina, Luperto, Augello; Marin, Adopo; Zortea, Viola, Luvumbo; Piccoli
Torino possible starting lineup:
Milinkovic-Savic; Walukiewicz, Coco, Masina; Lazaro, Ricci, Vlasic, Gineitis, Sosa; Adams, Sanabria
We say: Cagliari 1-1 Torino
Draws have been frequent in matches between Cagliari and Torino, with five of their last ten encounters (including two of the last four) ending in stalemates.
This trend, coupled with the Turin outfit's determination to avoid a third consecutive Serie A loss, points towards another draw in Sardinia.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
