Atalanta will be looking to keep their top-four place when they take on a struggling Cagliari at the Gewiss Stadium in an important Serie A clash on Sunday afternoon with kickoff at 14:30.
Atalanta have made an impressive campaign this season with the club recording 12 wins, seven draws and three defeats from their 22 league matches to collect 43 point which have left them sitting in fourth with a match in hand.
However, Atalanta are at a risk of losing their place in the Champions League places following a slow campaign in the recent weeks, as six points claimed from their last five Serie A matches has allowed Juventus to close in on them and only one point now separate the two as Juve sit in fifth on 42 points.
The luck of cutting edge in their attack appear to have been the major problem to Gian Piero Gasperini’s side who have failed to score in three of their last four Serie A matches, recording 0-0 draws in those matches including their last consecutive two.
Gasperini will therefore need to work on his attack as they look to turn around the draws to wins in order to continue keeping their place. They will, however, fancy their chances of coming away with maximum points in this match as they have won each of their last four meetings with Cagliari including the 2-1 in win the reverse fixture.
Cagliari have been struggling this season and have made a disappointing campaign having only managed three wins from their 23 matches, while picking eight draws and suffering 12 defeats in the run and they currently sit in 18th in the relegation zone on 17 points.
However, seven points collected from last possible 12 has changed the mood at Cagliari, who have finally started to move in the right direction since the turn of the year and are now just one point adrift of safety.
They also head into the match in good spirits as they did well to hold an inform Fiorentina to a 1-1 draw in their previous Serie A outing with the Sardinian’s side captain, top scorer and all-round attacking talisman Joao Pedro opening the scores, but Walter Mazzarri’s men conceded later in the second-half through Riccardo Sottil to end in a share of the spoils.
Mazzari’s men will therefore be looking to continue bringing their club back on track with maximum points here, as a win on Sunday would leave them out of the relegation zone with still a match in hand.
Atalanta vs Cagliari head to head
Both sides have met in 39 encounters since 1993 with Atalanta claiming 19 victories while Cagliari have claimed 13 and there have been seven draws. Take a look at their previous results.
- Cagliari 1-2 Atalanta
- Cagliari 0-1 Atalanta
- Atalanta 3-1 Cagliari
- Atalanta 5-2 Cagliari
- Cagliari 0-1 Atalanta
Home
- Lazio 0-0 Atalanta
- Atalanta 0-0 Inter
- Atalanta 2-0 Venezia
- Udinese 2-6 Atalanta
- Genoa 0-0 Atalanta
Away
- Cagliari 1-1 Fiorentina
- Sassuolo 1-0 Cagliari
- Roma 1-0 Cagliari
- Cagliari 2-1 Bologna
- Sampdoria 1-2 Cagliari
Atalanta team news
Atalanta will be without Josip Ilicic and Aleksey Miranchuk due to injuries.
Cagliari team news
Cagliari will be without Marko Rog, Sebastian Walukiewicz, kevin Strootman and Damir Ceter through injuries while main man Joao Pedro will miss due to suspension.
Prediction and odds
- Atalanta win
- Both sides to score (no)
- Goals under 2.5
