Roma vs Cagliari

Roma will be looking to get back to winning ways in Serie A when they take on relegation-threatened Cagliari at the Stadio Olimpico.

Roma’s psychological state is open for discussion after Jose Mourinho’s side lost 4-3 to Juventus at home last time out despite harbouring a 3-1 lead by the 70th minute, making it three Serie A matches without winning (D1, L2). Moreover, ‘I Giallorossi’ have only won once in their previous four top-flight home games (D2, L1), going winless in the last two in a row (D1, L1). Mourinho’s underwhelming tenure at the Stadio Olimpico has seen Roma suffer nine defeats in the opening 21 Serie A matchdays for the first time since 1978/79, with a coveted top-four finish already miles away. However, Cagliari’s visit to the nation’s capital could offer the hosts a much-needed lifeline, with Roma keeping five clean sheets in their last seven league H2Hs at home (W5, D2).

Meanwhile, Cagliari enjoyed the kind of start to the new calendar year that may set the tone for a second-half-of-the-season comeback, winning both Serie A games in 2022 by an identical 2-1 scoreline despite conceding first on each occasion. Before those two victories, the ‘Sardinians’ had gone winless in their previous 11 top-flight matches on the spin (D4, L7), drawing a blank in 55% of those outings. But barring a triumph at bottom-half Sampdoria to kick things off in 2021, Walter Mazzarri’s men have gone winless in their remaining nine Serie A travels this season (D3, L6), scoring a measly average of 0.55 goals per game in those fixtures. In the meantime, only two Serie A sides have conceded more away league goals than Cagliari (22) this season, with only Spezia (14) letting in more first-half goals on the road than them (12) so far.