Having ignited their season with two spectacular wins in a week, Cagliari aim for three-in-a-row on Sunday afternoon, when they welcome Genoa to Sardinia.

Both clubs were promoted back to the big time last term, but it took an incredible fightback for the Isolani to post their first Serie A win at the 10th time of asking.

Match preview

Somehow clawing their way back from three goals down with 70 minutes played, Cagliari finally secured their first league victory of the season last weekend, helping them climb away from the foot of the table.

Half-time substitute Leonardo Pavoletti was already the club's Serie B playoff final hero, but he wrote another page in history with two stoppage-time strikes to turn a seven-goal thriller Cagliari's way and consign Frosinone to bitter defeat.

The veteran striker's late intervention was surely no coincidence: among players who have scored 50 or more times in Serie A over the past 20 years, Pavoletti has the highest percentage of goals during the second half (71% - or 44 out of 62).

While a tally of just three points from their first nine matches had left Claudio Ranieri's men rock-bottom of the standings - and leaking at least two goals in each of the last six shows the depth of their defensive woes - such a success could help turn their 2023-24 campaign around.

The Isolani built more momentum on Wednesday evening, when they visited Udinese for a Coppa Italia second-round clash, as Nicolas Viola's 80th-minute equaliser took the tie into extra time and Gianluca Lapadula then found a winner just when it seemed penalties would be required.

The mighty Milan will be Cagliari's next cup opponents in early 2024, but more urgently, former Sampdoria boss Ranieri will aim to boost his current club's win-rate at home to Samp's city rivals Genoa.

Stretching back down the years, Cagliari have posted 13 wins from 23 home games against Genoa in Serie A - but more recently, the Ligurian side have held the upper hand.

Heading into this week's encounter, they have come out on top in each of their last five top-flight meetings with Cagliari, who they lead by five points and five places in the standings.

Head coach Alberto Gilardino saw his team beat struggling Salernitana 1-0 last Friday, when top scorer Albert Gudmundsson bagged the game's only goal, taking Genoa four points clear of the drop zone.

Like Cagliari - also known as the 'Rossoblu' due to their club colours - they then went on to secure a spot in the Coppa Italia's last 16, thanks to Gudmundsson's extra-time decider at home to Serie B side Reggiana.

Genoa will visit Lazio in the next round, by which time they will hope to have improved their results on the road; the Grifone may have just posted back-to-back wins at Marassi, but they have failed to even score in three of five Serie A away fixtures this season, losing all three.

Team News

Cagliari coach Claudio Ranieri is set to make several changes to his starting XI following Wednesday's extra-time win over Udinese, and the 72-year-old tactician has plenty of attacking options to choose from.

Zito Luvumbo started against Frosinone, but Andrea Petagna and Eldor Shomurodov were paired together in midweek; Gianluca Lapadula scored a crucial goal in the cup, while Leonardo Pavoletti still basks in the glow of his heroics last weekend.

Elsewhere, long-term absentee Marko Rog is joined by Nahitan Nandez on the sidelines: the latter's absence with a thigh injury could see Gabriele Zappa come in at right-back.

Genoa, meanwhile, will be without centre-back Mattia Bani due to suspension, but their main selection concern surrounds replacing Mateo Retegui, who went off at half time against Salernitana having just missed two games with a knee problem.

Such a flare-up for the Italy striker should see Caleb Ekuban start up front in Sardinia, supported by Albert Gudmundsson, who netted a 99th-minute winner in midweek. The latter also has four Serie A goals so far this season; taking his career tally to five and within one of overtaking Emil Hallfredsson as Iceland's leading scorer in the Italian top flight.

Like Ranieri, Alberto Gilardino rested some first-teamers in the Coppa Italia, but Ukraine international Ruslan Malinovskyi and goalkeeper Josep Martinez are among those ready to return from the first whistle on Sunday.

Cagliari possible starting lineup:
Scuffet; Zappa, Goldaniga, Dossena, Augello; Deiola, Grassi, Makoumbou; Mancosu; Luvumbo, Oristanio

Genoa possible starting lineup:
Martinez; De Winter, Dragusin, Vasquez; Sabelli, Frendrup, Badelj, Malinovskyi, Haps; Ekuban, Gudmundsson

We say: Cagliari 2-2 Genoa

Cagliari seemingly cannot defend, while Genoa rarely score away from home; yet Sunday's game could see either side throw everything at gaining another three points. Emboldened by back-to-back wins, both teams are set to find the net in an open score draw.


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