The Serie A Matchday 26 clash between Cagliari Calcio and SS Lazio will take place on 21 February at the Sardegna Arena. Cagliari Calcio vs SS Lazio: prediction, betting odds and statistics.
Cagliari Calcio
After beating Juventus in Matchday 21, the home team built on that success by claiming two more consecutive victories. It looked as though Cagliari Calcio had finally found some consistency, but that impression proved misleading. In the next two matches, Fabio Pisacane’s men lost 0:2 on both occasions, with the most painful result coming at home to one of the league’s strugglers, Lecce, in the previous round. Overall this season, the club have produced fairly average numbers at both ends of the pitch, scoring 1.22 goals per game on average and conceding 1.35.
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At least two goals have been scored in eight of Cagliari Calcio’s last 10 league matches.
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At their own ground, the club have scored in six of their last eight Serie A games.
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In five of the Sardinians’ last six matches in this competition, at least one team failed to score.
Potential Cagliari Calcio Lineup (3-5-2)*
Elia Caprile – Juan Rodriguez, Alberto Dossena, Ze Pedro – Adam Obert, Luca Mazzitelli, Gianluca Gaetano, Michel Ndary Adopo, Marco Palestra – Sebastiano Esposito, Semih Kilicsoy.
Forwards Gennaro Borrelli and Andrea Belotti, as well as midfielders Mattia Felici and Michael Folorunsho, will miss the match through injury.
SS Lazio
The away side lost 0:2 to Atalanta in the last round. In the current campaign, the Rome outfit have been producing results that are uncharacteristic of them: across their last 10 league matches, they have managed just two wins (five draws and three defeats). Over 25 games, Maurizio Sarri’s team have been fairly balanced, scoring 26 and conceding 25, with no clear skew towards either attack or defence. While SS Lazio have never been among Italian football’s undisputed giants, they have often been regarded as solid mid-table operators. Right now, however, the team are clearly going through a difficult spell, sitting only ninth in the Serie A, and their chances of reaching the European places are becoming remote, with a nine-point gap already opening up.
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At least two goals have been scored in seven of the club’s previous nine Serie A matches.
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Across the last 10 league matches, SS Lazio have won only twice (five draws, three defeats).
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In eight of their last nine away games in this competition, the Rome outfit have not scored more than once.
Potential SS Lazio Lineup (4-3-3)*
Marco Carnesecchi – Berat Djimsiti, Giorgio Scalvini, Sead Kolasinac – Nicola Zalewski, Mario Pasalic, Lazar Samardzic, Davide Zappacosta – Giacomo Raspadori, Ederson, Nikola Krstovic.
Defenders Mario Gila, Manuel Lazzari and Samuel Gigot, forwards Mattia Zaccagni and Pedro Rodriguez, and midfielder Toma Basic will all miss the match through injury.
Referee
Antonio Rapuano (Italy)
Matches – 18 (Serie A, 2024/25 - 2025/26);
Yellow cards shown (including second yellows) – 83;
Yellow cards per match – 4.6;
Red cards shown – 4;
Fouls per match – 28;
Penalties – 22%.
Cagliari Calcio vs SS Lazio: Match Prediction
If we look at the outcomes of the Rome outfit’s most recent games, it feels as though things are not actually that bad. Yes, they dropped points at home to Atalanta, but they also avoided defeat against the Turin side, beat Genoa and overcame Bologna in the Coppa Italia. However, if we focus on how Fabio Pisacane’s men play the final half-hour of matches, we can see that they quite literally hand victory to the opponent. For instance, against the Turin side, despite holding a two-goal advantage by the 59th minute, the game ended in a draw. A similar situation unfolded against Genoa: up to the 67th minute SS Lazio were leading 2:0, but by the 75th minute the Genoese had levelled — all of which once again highlights problems with concentration and the players’ psychological resilience late in games. On top of that, the prospect of finishing this season without trophies and missing out on next season’s Champions League clearly does not satisfy the club’s hierarchy.
Despite two poor rounds in which Cagliari Calcio failed to score, the team’s attacking numbers are not too bad. This season, the club have averaged 1.11 xG per match. Yes, that figure looks fairly modest, but we should also take into account SS Lazio’s weak performances in recent games. Since Fabio Pisacane’s side have failed to score in their last two matches (0:2 defeats to Lecce and the Rome outfit), this upcoming game offers them a chance to make amends in front of their supporters. We would also note that the club have scored in six of their previous eight home matches in the Serie A. With the above in mind, we can assume that Cagliari Calcio will manage to find the net in this one as well.
Prediction: Cagliari Calcio, over 0.5 goals
* For each team, the starting line-up shown is from their previous match in this competition.
