Italian Serie A
2024-01-26 - Cagliari vs Torino
A Sports Betting Pick by Cafa
Italy Serie A - Round 22
Sardegna Arena, Cagliari, Italy
Friday, 26th January 2024, 20:45 CET
Cagliari
If Cagliari stays in Serie A this season, it will be because of their home form, because this is the second-worst visitor in the league and one of only three teams that yet don't have a visiting victory. Cagliari is the 12th-best home team though, with four wins and three draws. Most notably, Cagliari just doesn't lose at home to any team that doesn't belong to the very top of Italian football.
At the moment, Cagliari is only one point above the relegation zone so this is yet another home game they must not lose, especially as Verona is hosting Frosinone and might just leapfrog Cagliari in this round and send them below the line instead.
This is probably the worst squad of players in Serie A, but fortunately they have one of the best coaches in Claudio Ranieri who's bringing the best out of this team and giving them results. It's a miracle that they're even getting some victories at all, let alone on a steady basis like they are at home against equal teams. This is excellent coaching.
Torino
Torino, the owner of joint-best defence in Serie A, with 18 goals conceded, wasn't in league action last week as their game was postponed, so they'll be fresh here and ready to finally make their mark on travels. They failed to score in the last four visiting matches, and it's been since September that Torino hasn't had a high-scoring visiting game. They're always tight affairs, so it seems.
It seems that Torino has settled back into their low-scoring ways, or better said, at home they tend to keep a clean sheet, while on the road they tend to remain scoreless while keeping the game tight.
Probable Lineups
Cagliari (4-3-2-1): Scuffet - Zappa, Goldaniga, Dossena, Azzi - Makoumbou, Prati, Sulemana - Nandez, Viola - Petagna. Coach Ranieri.
Torino (3-4-1-2): Milinkovic-Savic - Djidji, Buongiorno, Rodriguez - Bellanova, Tameze, Ilic, Vojvoda - Vlasic - Sanabria, Zapata. Coach Juric.
Other than some minor shuffles in the defensive line, Cagliari will run out with the same formation and the same lineup as usual. Torino, on the other hand, will change precisely nothing.
The Betting Verdict
This game will be tight. Torino always plays like that on the road, making sure the defence travels before attempting to go forward to score for the win. Most of the time, it will result in a low-scoring win for the host, as this strategy isn't serving Torino too well.
On the other hand, Cagliari seems to accept whatever the opponent is playing, and will play a tight low-scoring game if that's the scenario, but can also move forward and chase the score. This is why most of their home games are 2-1 wins.
If Torino scores first and Cagliari will be chasing the score, and will have enough time to do so, then by all means, this is a 2-1 kind of game. Even the games with prices on Under 2.5 Goals this low, 1.57, tend to go overboard in Serie A. But this one looks like it's a true under game. The chances of there being three or more goals here are really low, so even 1.57 is good value.
The Statistics :
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The Pick :
Cagliari 1-1 Torino
