Cagliari will host Juventus at the Stadio Sant’Elia in Serie A on Thursday night at 19:00 CET.
Both teams go into this game having drawn in the previous round of Serie A action. The Isolani shared the spoils in a goalless draw with Parma while the Bianconeri were held to a 1-1 draw against surprise packets Sampdoria. Juve’s draw against Doria meant that their run of 25 consecutive home wins in Serie A came to a halt.
Juventus defeated Cagliari in both league fixtures last season as they emerged 4-1 in Cagliari in round 19 and 3-0 in Turin in the final round. The last time the Isolani defeated the Bianconeri in Serie A was in November 2009. Cagliari won 2-0 on that day and the Sardinians were coach by current Juve coach Massimiliano Allegri.
Both sides will have different objectives for getting the three points on Thursday. Roma are only one point behind Juventus in the scudetto race while Cagliari have only won two matches this season and they are one point away from safety.
Colombian winger Victor Ibarbo will return from a one-match suspension for Cagliari but striker Marco Sau will still be unavailable due to injury. Sau’s loss has been apparent in Zdenek Zeman’s side, prompting the maverick tactician to try a few players in the centre-forward role.
Youngster Samuele Longo has failed to take his opportunities so Zeman has tested Diego Farias, as well as Andrea Cossu in the false 9 role. This time Zeman looks set to play Ibarbo in the same position against the Bianconeri.
Juventus have to deal with long-term absences such as Kwadwo Asamoah and Andrea Barzagli due to injury and Leonardo Bonucci is suspended for this encounter after receiving his fourth yellow card of the Serie A campaign against Sampdoria.
Andrea Pirlo and Fernando Llorente are expected to return to the Juve starting line-up after Arturo Vidal and Alvaro Morata failed to impress against the Doriani.
Expected Starting XIs
Cagliari: Cragno; Balzano, Ceppitelli, Rossettini Avelar; Crisetig, Conti, Ekdal; Farias, Ibarbo, Cossu
Juventus: Buffon; Lichtsteiner, Ogbonna, Chiellini, Evra; Pogba, Pirlo, Marchisio; Pereyra; Tevez, Llorente
