The pressure to extend Cagliari’s six-season top-flight stay remains immense but a seven-game Serie A winless run leaves the hosts with their joint-worst 15-game start to any league campaign this century!
Cagliari
With only one win from 15 Serie A matches so far and sitting just one point above the bottom of the standings, Cagliari need a change of fortunes and fast as the threat of relegation grows. The pressure to extend their six-season top-flight stay remains immense but a seven-game Serie A winless run leaves the hosts with their joint-worst 15-game start to any league campaign this century! Two-thirds of their Serie A points so far, including their lone win, have come in home games, but those relative comforts aren’t going to guarantee safety for the Sardinians. Keeping leads intact could be the way forward as Cagliari have dropped points in four of five Serie A home games in which they netted first in this campaign.
Torino
Although eight points above the drop zone at the start of this matchday, Torino are struggling to rise above mediocrity after obtaining only three wins across their last 11 Serie A games. In this campaign, the ‘Granata’ are bidding to improve on their back-to-back below 15th-placed finishes, although their average of 1.27 goals per Serie A outing is unlikely to help them achieve that. Surprisingly solid at the back though, the visitors are yet to concede more than twice in a match this league season, conceding exactly once on eight occasions. Conceding in any form is likely to lead to defeat, however, as their last four away Serie A games have all ended in 1-0 losses, a run which means Torino are currently enduring their worst scoring drought since firing a run of six Serie A away blanks in the previous century.
Cagliari’s Leonardo Pavoletti has previously scored and assisted in the same top-flight game on five occasions, twice against Torino. He’ll battle against Torino defender Bremer here who has two Serie A goals this season. Both have come in wins, each time giving Torino a 2-0 lead. Torino are the only Serie A side yet to score an away goal before half-time this season.