On Saturday, September 26, 2020, the Sardegna Arena hosts Cagliari vs Lazio in Matchday 2 of the 2020/21 Serie A. The Head Referee for this clash will be Davide Massa, the Assistant Referees will be De Meo and Fiore, the Fourth Official will be Di Martino, and the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) will be Chiffi with the assistance of Paganessi.
Match Preview
In the 27 matches between the two clubs, Lazio have won 18 times, Cagliari have won five times, and there have been four draws. In addition, Lazio are unbeaten in their last twelve matches against Cagliari; they are also unbeaten in their last six matches at the Sardegna Arena. Furthermore, Ciro Immobile was extremely impressive last season for Lazio; the striker finished the season with 36 goals (winning the Capoconnoniere Award and European Golden Shoe) and will look to continue where he left off against the Rossoblu.
Taking a look at the Summer Transfer Window (thus far) for each side, Simone Inzaghi’s Biancocelesti have added Vedat Muriqi, Gonzalo Escalante, Pepe Reina, and Mohamed Fares; while Eusebio Di Francesco’s Rossoblu have acquired Marko Rog, Giovanni Simeone, Riccardo Sottil, and Alessandro Tripaldelli.
Expected Starting Lineups
Cagliari
(4-4-2): Cragno; Faragò, Waluikiewicz, Klavan, Lykogiannis; Nandez, Marin, Rog, Sottil; Joao Pedro, Simeone.
Unavailable: Cerri, Ceppitelli, Pereiro
Disqualified: –
Yellow-Carded: –
Lazio
(3-5-2): Strakosha; Patric, Acerbi, Radu; Lazzari, Milinkovic, Leiva, Luis Alberto, Marusic; Correa, Immobile.
Unavailable: Proto, Vavro, Luiz Felipe, Lulic, Muriqi
Disqualified: –
Yellow-Carded: –
Prediction
This match takes place after Cagliari tied Sassuolo 1-1 at the Mapei Stadium-Citta del Tricolore in their season debut. The game was scoreless for three quarters of the match until Giovanni Simeone broke the deadlock with his first goal of the season. However, the lead was short-lived for the Rossoblu as right before injury time, Mehdi Bourabia delivered a beautiful shot off a free-kick outside the box with Alessio Cragno having no chance to make the save. Each side earned a point and left with a well-deserved draw.
Lazio’s season opener was delayed after Atalanta earlier in the year requested to have an extended break (as they went far in the 2019/20 edition of the UEFA Champions League which extended their season). This gave the Biancocelesti an additional week to prepare for their season and allowed key players such as Luis Alberto and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic to be able to rest and get back to 100% match fitness.
Lazio will be aiming to build off a successful 2019/20 season (where they finished in fourth place and returned to the Champions League after a 13-year absence); Cagliari will look to build off their recent draw which saw improvements under new manager Eusebio Di Francesco.
