Cagliari-Chievo

By: Jeremy | October 2nd, 2009

Dessena
Cagliari returns home after two games on the road where unexpected results have eased early relegation worries and given fans belief that the team might even be better then last years Serie A relevation. Yes the wins were against Bari and Parma but two impressive wins on the road in back to back games can really get a team going and we all know what happened last year at this time.

Last weekends win on the road to Parma was probably more unexpected then the win against Bari. Parma was flying high, near the top of the table and looked impressive heading into a home match. Despite an iffy early penalty not given to them, Cagliari dominated the rest of the game with Dessena showing why he was a very important addition from Sampdoria in the offseason.

Cagliari now sits 13th in the table on 7 points and has a very winnable match at home against Chievo where momentum in Serie A is very important as so many of the teams are close in talent in what is one of the more balanced seasons in Serie A in some time.

Allegri seems to be relying on his midfield to create the scoring and with Dessena and Cossu you have one of the better midfield tandems in Serie A, especially considering Cagliari cannot spend so freely. With Cossu playing like he will soon see a spot on a big club and Dessena getting comfortable with his new team, they are perfect compliments to veteran Conti and the hustling Biondini. With Barone and Sivakov ready to come off the bench, this is a huge strength for Cagliari and Allegri is wise to rely on this group.

While the midfield play has been great, Cagliari cannot have any sustained success until Nene is starting and playing close to 90 minutes a game because he can score. While Jeda has played well, Matri is not the secondary finisher the club needs to reward the team for the midfield work. This situation cannot be ignored but Allegri wont have to answer to this concern if the team stays out of relegation.

The defense played great last week and will be bolstered by the return of Diego Lopez to provide stability in the back. They held Parmas offense in check for the whole game and Canini and everyone else are starting to show some real support for Marchetti who has improved after a slow start to the season.

Chievo is not to be taken lightly, they sit one point above Cagliari and have gone four games without a loss. While the win against Genoa was nice, this team is still relegation material as draws to Atalanta and Siena are not impressive and a win against Bologna is not either. Sergio Pellisier is their best player and he has scored 4 goals already so they have the finisher that Cagliari may be lacking and that could be a difference in the game. That being said, getting points is important and when Cagliari is losing at home to Siena we cannot criticize Chievo too much for draws against similarly situated teams.

This is Cagliaris real chance to help put the Siena loss aside and despite Chievos recent run, they are not as good as Cagliari. At home and with momentum, we should win the game.

A win here sets us up nicely for the next rounds game against Catania who is having problems. Look for Allegri and the players to understand how important getting three points this weekend is to the overall position of the team and that they cannot give points away like they did to Siena.

The players will come through.

Prediction:
Cagliari 2-1 Chievo

Prediction record to date: 3-3