Saturday afternoon brings us a relegation showdown in Serie A between Spezia and Cagliari at the Stadio Alberto Picco with both teams perched just above the bottom three clubs of the Italian top flight.
Looking at Spezia first and the hosts’ situation has become very serious indeed as they’ve stumbled to four defeats on the trot, losing to Fiorentina, Bologna, Roma and Juventus which has landed them dangerously close to the relegation zone.
The bigger picture shows that Spezia have managed to collect just four wins out of their last 16 matches overall, so it’s perhaps not surprising that the hosts find themselves just four points above the drop-zone.
In addition, Spezia have managed to pick up just one win out of their last seven games on home soil at their Stadio Alberto Picco which came in the form of a narrow 1-0 victory over Sampdoria but four defeats within this period suggests that a straight home win here may be asking a bit too much of Spezia.
Spezia are expected to be without midfielder Colley and defender Sala who are both injured.
Cagliari sit just one league position and one point below their Saturday’s hosts, Spezia, prior to this relegation battle as the hosts look to rekindle their recent previous form which saw them put together a useful five-match unbeaten run.
The visitors had earlier posted wins against Atalanta and Torino, both of which were away from home, while also picking up points in draws with Fiorentina, Empoli and Napoli, but they head into this weekend’s clash on the back of a heavy 3-0 loss at home to Lazio.
Cagliari have won three of their last five matches on the road as well which gives the visitors a fighting chance of grabbing a vital result at the Stadio Alberto Picco.
But the bigger picture shows that it’s just been these three recent wins that Cagliari have managed from their last 15 outings on their travels.
Five of these 15 away games have ended in stalemate while there’s also a case that this upcoming encounter against Spezia may also be a low-scoring affair as Cagliari have failed to score in eight of these last 15 away games as well.
However, the draw may offer some value here, particularly as two of the last three meetings between these two clubs have ended in stalemate.
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