Preview: Cagliari vs Arezzo - prediction, team news, lineups

Cagliari Calcio will host SS Arezzo at the Unipol Domus on Friday in the Coppa Italia round of 64.

A first competitive home fixture against a side that has just secured promotion to Serie B should give Cagliari plenty of confidence, while Arezzo will be aiming to spoil the occasion by producing a typical cup upset.

Match preview

Fabio Pisacane leads Cagliari into their first competitive fixture of the season on Friday, hosting Arezzo in the Coppa Italia's round of 32 at the Unipol Domus.

Pisacane's debut year in senior management brought Cagliari a 14th-place Serie A finish on 43 points, the club's best league placement since 2016-17 and a campaign the Rossoblu themselves said met every target they'd set.

That progress earned him a contract extension to 2028 with a further option year, the club framing it as continuity after safety was wrapped up early and youngsters such as Marco Palestra were given room to develop.

Arezzo arrive having beaten Union Brescia 2-0 in the preliminary round through goals from Alessandro Arena and Camillo Tavernelli, sending Cristian Bucchi's side to Sardinia for their first competitive test before their own Serie B opener against Avellino later this month.

The Isolani have spent preseason integrating a reshaped attack, with Gennaro Borrelli, Giuseppe Aurelio, Kevin Carlos and Daniel Maldini all training at the CRAI Sport Center, though Borrelli himself is working through a thigh strain in individual sessions.

Cristian Bucchi's Arezzo travel to Sardinia this Friday for a Coppa Italia round of 32 tie against Cagliari at the Unipol Domus as the Amaranto's second competitive outing of the campaign.

Last season ranks among the best in the club's modern history, as Arezzo won Group B of Serie C outright and sealed an immediate return to Serie B with a 3-1 win over Torres, holding off a late-season surge from the Sardinian side.

Bucchi's men set the tone early, taking 24 points from their first nine matches to break a 22-year-old club record previously held by Mario Somma's promotion-winning side of 2003-04, before a mid-season dip let their rivals close the gap without ever catching them.

Domestically the cup form was less kind: the Cavallo Rampante's Coppa Italia Serie C campaign ended in the Round of 16 at home, beaten on penalties by Latina, who went on to reach the final before losing to Potenza.

This new campaign opened with a 2-0 win over Union Brescia in the preliminary round at the Stadio Citta di Arezzo, Alessandro Arena's first-half strike and a late Camillo Tavernelli free-kick booking passage to Friday's trip against Serie A opposition.

Arezzo Coppa Italia form:

Team News

Cagliari have most of their squad available for the home tie against third-tier opposition but will be without Raphael Kofler and Riyad Idrissi due to injury.

Paul Mendy, Yael Trepy and Kingstone Mutandwa all scored during pre-season and will be looking to carry that form into the new campaign, Mutandwa could start from the bench.

Arezzo have one fitness concern, with attacking midfielder Emiliano Pattarello still recovering from a pubalgia issue that kept him out of pre-season.

Alessandro Arena and Camillo Tavernelli, who both scored in the 2-0 win over Union Brescia, are expected to start this weekend.

Cagliari possible starting lineup:

Caprile; Pedro, Obert, Rodriguez; Winks, Adopo, Romano, Deiola, Fazzini; Trepy, Mendy

Arezzo possible starting lineup:

Nunziante; Renzi, Gilli, Illanes, Righetti; Sala, Chierico, Ionita; Tavernelli, Cerri, Arena