Cesena v Cagliari – Preview: Playing for Pride

Date: 22nd May 2015 at 8:45am
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Cesena host Cagliari at the Stadio Dino Manuzzi on Sunday afternoon at 15:00 CET in Serie A.

Both teams have been relegated from Serie A weeks before the season has ended. Cagliari lost 1-0 to Palermo in the previous round to seal their mathematical relegation and Cesena sealed theirs with a 3-2 to loss to Sassuolo the week before.

The Cavallucci Marini have displayed the form of a relegated side, having gone winless in 11 rounds. Their 1-0 win against Udinese was back in March 1 and since then they have drawn five games and lost six.

Cesena did come close to beating Napoli at the Stadio San Paolo on Monday night when Gregoire Defrel opened the scoring but Napoli came back to win 3-2. Defrel also scored the second goal and took his season tally to nine, one ahead of attacking midfielder Franco Brienza.

Cavalucci Marini coach Domenico Di Carlo has achieved consecutive relegations after he had coached Livorno last season. Previously he had coached Parma in 2007/08 and Sampdoria in 2010/11, with both clubs sacking him and still getting relegated.

The Isolani’s form has been decent under Gianluca Festa with two wins and a draw in five games but Zdenek Zeman’s resignation probably came too late for Festa to dramatically change the Sardinian side’s form.

Cagliari won this fixture in the first half of the season 2-1 thanks to goals from Joao Pedro and Godfred Donsah. Cesena have not defeated Cagliari in Serie A since May 8, 2011, when they won 2-0 in Sardinia.

Cesena will not miss any players due to suspension but Guido Marilungo, Nico Pulzetti, Luigi Giorgi and Luca Valzania have been ruled out for the remainder of the season because of injuries.

Cagliari will be close to full strength but Luca Ceppitelli might need a fitness test before returning to the starting line-up. Regular starters such as Joao Pedro, Daniele Dessena and Marco Sau are expected to start the game on the bench.

Form Guide: Cesena (D-L-D-L-L-L), Cagliari (L-W-L-W-D-L)

Expected Started XIs

Cesena: Agliardi; Perico, Capelli, Krajnc, Renzetti; Carbonero, Mudingayi, Cascione; Brienza; Defrel, Djuric

Cagliari: Brkic; Balzano, Diakite, Rossettini, Avelar; Donsah, Crisetig, Ekdal; Mpoku; Cop, Farias

 

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