After crashing out of the Europa League, Roma return to domestic action as they welcome Cagliari to the Stadio Olimpico for a Serie A fixture. The capital club have been impressive in the league lately and should be too strong for the visitors, who have found things difficult.
AS Roma suffered a heartbreaking 3-1 defeat at Athletic Club which sealed their elimination from the Europa League. The good news is that the capital club have been solid domestically, playing themselves into European contention as they sit four points off the top six.
Claudio Ranieri’s men have won the last five Serie A matches and claimed a 1-0 victory at Empoli in their previous fixture. That result highlights the foundation of their recent form having kept clean sheets in four of their last five matches in the league.
Cagliari head into this match after a 1-1 draw with Genoa, leaving them winless in six of their last seven league games. Davide Nicola’s men have been beaten four times in that run and these struggles mean they are now just four points above the relegation zone.
It is a similar situation on the road for Cagliari, who are winless in their last four Serie A away matches. They often struggle for goals on their travels and have failed to score in two of the last three fixtures in that run.
How the bookies view it: Roma heavily fancied
Roma are considered favourites among the bookies with BoyleSports offering odds of 4/9 for a home win. Cagliari are priced at 5/1 to claim the victory while a draw is set at odds of 3/1.
Head to head: Roma on top
Roma have a 26-11 advantage with 15 draws from 52 previous matches against Cagliari. The Capital club have also won four of the last five meetings but were held to a 0-0 draw in the reverse fixture in August.
Players to watch: Reliable Dovbyk
Artem Dovbyk has nine goals for Roma this season and will be the one to watch on Sunday. The striker has also scored three goals in his last five league games at the Stadio Olimpico and is priced at 11/8 by BoyleSports to score anytime.
Mats Hummels has been a mainstay in the heart of an AS Roma defence that has kept four clean sheets in the last five league games. With the hosts also keeping clean sheets in three of the last four matches against Cagliari, the German defender can lead them to a repeat at evens with BoyleSports.
Probable line-ups
Aside from the injured Zeki Celik, AS Roma have a full squad to select from. Matias Soule, Lorenzo Pellegrini and Eldor Shomurodov are expected to keep their places in attack while Hummels should start in defence.
Cagliary will be without Zito Luvumbo, Carlo Soldati and Florinel Coman, who are out injured. However, Roberto Piccoli, Nicolas Viola and Alessandro Deiola are all expected to retain their places in the line-up.
AS Roma: Svilar, Rensch, Mancini, Ndicka, Saelemaekers, Kone, Paredes, Angelino, Soule, Pellegrini, Shomurodov
Cagliari: Caprile, Luperto, Mina, Obert, Zortea, Adopo, Makoumbou, Deiola, Augello, Viola, Piccoli
Anything else catch the eye?
Roma have won four of their last five league matches to nil and a repeat is priced at 13/10 with BoyleSports. The capital club have won the first half in three of the last four Serie A matches and this trend could be backed to continue at 21/20.
Roma have also scored in both halves in five of their last seven league matches against Cagliari and a similar outcome is valued at 6/4 with BoyleSports.
This Serie A match between Roma and Cagliari will be played on and kick off at 15:00. Check below for our tipsters best Roma vs Cagliari prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
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