Cagliari vs Inter Preview: How to Watch, Live Stream, Kick Off Time & Team News

Inter travel to Cagliari in Serie A on Friday night looking to establish their place in the Champions League qualification places.

The Nerazzurri are under pressure from neighbourhood rivals AC Milan and Roma, with the gap between third and fifth place down to just three points.

Luciano Spalletti’s side were held to a dramatic 3-3 draw against Fiorentina last time out – being pegged back in the 11th (yes, 11th!) minute of stoppage time by a VAR awarded Jordan Veretout penalty.

Cagliari, meanwhile, have won just one of their last five league games and come into this game fresh off a 1-0 defeat to Sampdoria last weekend.

Check out 90min’s preview of the game below.

How to Watch

?When Is Kick Off?	Friday 1 March ?
?What Time Is Kick Off?	?19:30 (BST)
?Where Is it Played?	?Sardegna Arena
?TV Channel/Live Stream?	?Premier Sports 2
?Referee?	Daniele Orsato

Team News

?Inter look set to be without two of their most prominent attacking stars, with both ?Mauro Icardi and Keita Balde unlikely to feature because of injury.

The visitors will also be without Sime Vrsaljko, with the Croatian defender ruled out for the remainder of the season after knee surgery.

Like Inter, three players will also be absent from Cagliari’s camp. Midfielders Lucas Castro and Valer Bisra are missing, as well as former Liverpool defender Ragnar Klavan – with Achilles trouble likely to rule him out.

Predicted Lineups

?Cagliari	?Cragno; Pellegrini, Pisacane; Ceppitelli; Padoi; Lonita; Cigarini, Barella, Dieola; Doratiotto, Pavoletti.
?Inter	Handanovic;? Dalbert, Skriniar, De Vrij, D’Ambrosio; ?Perisic, Brozovic, Nainggolan, Vecino, Candreva; Martinez

Head to Head Record

Taking into account the history between these two sides, Inter should be pretty confident going into this one.

In the 77 Serie A clashes between these two, Cagliari have won just 13 times, with Inter claiming 37 victories. However, with 27 draws making up the rest of those fixtures, it seems more than possible that this one may end up as a stalemate.

When the sides met back in September, Inter ran out comfortable 2-0 winners – with goals from Lautaro Martinez and Matteo Politano enough to seal all three points.

In fact, the last five matches ?between these two has seen Cagliari lose on all but one occasion – when they claimed a shock 2-1 away win at San Siro back in 2016.

Recent Form

Inter come into the game in pretty good form. They’re unbeaten in there last five outings across all competitions, and had won their previous four games before last weekend.

They are also making serene progress in the Europa League, and comfortably saw off Rapid Wien over two legs.

Cagliari on the other hand are struggling. They have only registered one win in their last five games, and that came when they beat Parma 2-1. Their poor form has seen them drop to 14th in Serie A, just six points above the relegation zone.

?Cagliari	Inter Milan ?
?Sampdoria 1-0 Cagliari (24/2)	?Fiorentina 3-3 Inter (24/2)
?Cagliari 2-1 Parma (16/2)	?Inter 4-0 Rapid Wien (21/2)
??AC Milan 3-0 Cagliari (10/2)	?Inter 2-1 Sampdoria (17/2)
?Cagliari 0-1 Atlanta (4/2)	Rapid Wien 0-1 ?Inter (14/2)
?Sassuolo 3-0 Cagliari (26/1)	Parma 1-0 ?Inter (9/2)

Prediction

Considering the opposing form of each team it would take a brave man to bet again Inter for this one.

Cagliari’s recent slump will have dented their confidence, and they will have been wishing for an easier test than Inter this weekend.

The Nerazzurri may be missing talismanic figure Icardi up front, but they should have enough quality about them with Martinez, Perisic and Nainggolan among their forward ranks. A narrow away win.

Prediction: Cagliari 0-1 Inter

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