Cagliari and Venezia square off at the Sardegna Arena on Friday evening with both teams eager to move outside of the Serie A relegation zone.
While the home side are still searching for their first win of the season, Venezia added a further point to their tally on Monday night against Torino.
Match preview
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Cagliari wasted no time in swapping managers earlier this season, appointing Walter Mazzarri as their new boss after just three matches.
While the experienced Italian has returned the same amount of points as his predecessor, there are signs that Gli Isolani will eventually move out of trouble.
The home defeat to Empoli came as a disappointment, but claiming a draw away at Lazio and remaining competitive against leaders Napoli will give Mazzarri confidence ahead of their upcoming schedule.
Despite the obvious improvements made since the middle of the month, Cagliari are still to play a top-flight fixture this season without conceding at least two goals.
Aside from their heavy defeat at Udinese on matchday two, Venezia have put together a similar set of results to their next opponents.
I Lagunari only succumbed to 2-0 defeats at Napoli and AC Milan respectively, more than respectable results for a club who finished fifth in the second tier last season.
Paolo Zanetti would have been delighted with the victory away at Empoli, while positives can be taken from claiming a point versus Torino earlier this week.
Chelsea loanee Ethan Ampadu finally made his debut during that fixture, being introduced as a first-half substitute and making a notable impression in midfield.
While Cagliari will edge their way outside of the bottom three with a win on Friday night, Venezia can move as high as 14th position.
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Team News
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Keita Balde could be restored to the Cagliari starting lineup, potentially having to line up on one of the flanks due to the form of Joao Pedro.
Sebastian Walukiewicz should keep his place in the middle of the defence after being withdrawn as a precaution on his last two starts.
Ampadu will almost certainly be handed his first start in a Venezia shirt, taking the spot of Antonio Vacca.
Tyronne Ebuehi may come back into the starting lineup at left-back, while Mattia Aramu will be considered for a starting role on the right flank or in attack.
Daan Heymans is one yellow card away from a ban after being booked in each of his four outings this season.
Cagliari possible starting lineup:
Cragno; Zappa, Walukiewicz, Godin, Caceres; Strootman, Deiola; Nandez, Marin, Balde; Pedro
Venezia possible starting lineup:
Maenpaa; Mazzocchi, Svoboda, Ceccaroni, Ebuehi; Crnigoj, Ampadu, Busio, Kiyine; Aramu, Okereke
We say: Cagliari 2-1 Venezia
Venezia can claim to be the team who is in form out of these two clubs after getting back on track earlier this week. However, not many teams will restrict Napoli to two goals this season, and Cagliari could take confidence from that experience to prevail in this contest.
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 47.84%. A win for Venezia had a probability of 26.49% and a draw had a probability of 25.7%.
The most likely scoreline for a Cagliari win was 1-0 with a probability of 11.48%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (9.28%) and 2-0 (8.73%). The likeliest Venezia win was 0-1 (8.02%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.2%). The actual scoreline of 1-1 was predicted with a 12.2% likelihood.
