Preview: Hellas Verona vs. Cagliari - prediction, team news, lineups

Cagliari will look to put an end to a six-game league winless run on Tuesday, when they travel to take on Hellas Verona.

In the midst of a poor run of form, the visitors sit 19th in the Serie A table, while their hosts remained in ninth spot after a defeat to Sampdoria at the weekend.

Match preview

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Hellas Verona headed into the recent international break in style, having defeated giants Juventus and held league leaders Napoli to a 1-1 draw to stretch their unbeaten run to four games and establish their spot in the top half with 16 points from their 12 outings.

Igor Tudor's side picked up where they left off upon their return to action, defeating Empoli 2-1 thanks to Adrien Tameze's 91st-minute winner after Antonin Barak's opener was cancelled out.

However, their five-game unbeaten run that produced 11 points was put to an end at the weekend, as I Gialloblu were beaten 3-1 by Sampdoria, with goals in the final 15 minutes from Albin Ekdal and Nicola Murru sealing all three points for their opponents.

Having now seen their lead over sides in the bottom half cut down, Tudor's men will look to make a quick return to winning ways on Tuesday, when they welcome a struggling Cagliari side.

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The visitors immediately sank to the bottom end of the Serie A table as they failed to win any of their opening seven matches of the season, before they finally arrested the slump with a 3-1 victory over Sampdoria to climb off the foot of the division.

Gli Isolani have been unable to build a positive run on those foundations though, with their solitary win immediately followed by a four-game losing run.

In that time, Walter Mazzarri's side fell short to Fiorentina, Roma, Bologna and Atalanta, conceding nine goals in the process and scoring just two.

They have now drawn back-to-back games since the break to see the winless streak stretched to six matches, as a commendable 2-2 draw with Sassuolo was followed by a clash with fellow strugglers Salernitana last time out.

Having failed to beat the league's basement side, who equalised in the last minute, Cagliari's position in the battle for survival has taken a hit, and they now sit on just eight points from 14 games, three points adrift of safety in 19th spot.

Team News

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Hellas Verona will remain without Juventus loanee Gianluca Frabotta, who continues to battle with an injury.

Forward Nikola Kalinic should also miss out, with Giovanni Simeone likely continuing to lead the line in his absence.

He will again be flanked by Antonin Barak and Gianluca Caprari in an exciting front three, with Marco Faraoni and Darko Lazovic offering further width in wing-back roles.

Cagliari looked set to beat Salernitana until the late slip, and Mazzarri should stick with a relatively similar starting XI.

Leonardo Pavoletti, Sebastian Walukiewicz and veteran centre-back Diego Godin are all injured and will continue to miss out.

Even without Godin, Uruguay international Martin Caceres is an experienced head in the back three, and he should again line up alongside Luca Ceppitelli and Andrea Carboni.

Hellas Verona possible starting lineup:
Montipo; Casale, Dawidowicz, Ceccherini; Faraoni, Tameze, Ilic, Lazovic; Barak, Simeone, Caprari

Cagliari possible starting lineup:
Cragno; Caceres, Ceppitelli, Carboni; Bellanova, Nandez, Grassi, Marin, Dalbert; Pedro, Balde

We say: Hellas Verona 2-1 Cagliari

While the hosts will be wounded from the defeat last time out, a home clash against a Cagliari side devoid of confidence is a good opportunity to return to winning ways.

The visitors' failure to see out a win against the basement side last time out showed they are far from the peak of their powers, and we expect them to fall to a defeat away from home.

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