Napoli vs Cagliari: Preview and Prediction

After a hard-fought win against Inter, Napoli will seek to try to catch and overtake Roma in the battle for second place as they take on Cagliari on Saturday evening.

Napoli vs Cagliari
2016/17 Italian Serie A.
Date: Saturday, 6 May 2017
Kick-Off: 17:00 UK,
Venue: Stadio San Paolo (Naples).

The Partenopei will be welcoming a team who not only have just three away wins thus far, but also have failed to keep a clean sheet in their travels. In short, Napoli, who have the highest scoring attack in the division, will surely be fancying their chances against Cagliari’s leaky defense. The reverse meeting earlier this season between the two sides saw Napoli absolutely run riot as they racked up five goals sans reply.

Cagliari, interestingly have alternated between a win and a loss in their past five games. Their last game ended in a win, but it was a 1-0 result against an already-relegated Pescara. So, if one believes in patterns, all signs points to a defeat for the Rossoblu on Saturday.

They are one of three sides promoted from Serie B last season, and are the only one guaranteed to remain in the top flight for next term. As such, they have nothing but pride to play for – but it does not mean they will want to be humiliated at the Stadio San Paolo, either.

This represents a great chance for Napoli to put more pressure on Roma. A win would see them jump into second, forcing the Giallorossi, who lost recently to Lazio to need to get all three points against Milan in order to re-claim second place.

Napoli vs Cagliari: Head-to-head statistics

• Napoli have a record of W16-D2-L2 in their last 20 home games against teams ranked below them in the table.

• Cagliari have a record of W2-D3-L15 in their last 20 away games against teams ranked above them in the table

• Napoli are unbeaten in the last 13 Serie A games against Cagliari: eight wins and five draws

• The last time Cagliari beat Napoli at the Stadio San Paolo was in August 2007

• Napoli are undefeated in 34 of their last 36 home matches

• The Partenopei have scored at least 3 goals in their last 4 home matches against Cagliari in all competitions

Napoli vs Cagliari: Prediction

Napoli have a pretty comfortable run-in between now and the end of the season. Roma’s, however, is much tougher as they next face Juventus. With that in mind, the Partenopei will seek to pick up all three points here to possibly take advantage of any slip-ups the Giallorossi may suffer over their upcoming two games. Given Cagliari’s decent attack, they may be able to grab a goal, as clean sheets aren’t exactly Napoli’s forte.