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

Fresh from a vital European win in midweek, Fiorentina will kick off their Serie A campaign on Sunday evening, when the Viola visit Cagliari.

While their first game of the new season came in the Conference League playoffs, their Sardinian hosts needed penalties to progress past modest opponents in the Coppa Italia.

Match preview

After a late dip saw Fiorentina slip out of Italy's frantic race for fourth place last term, the Tuscan club's board soon acted to replace Raffaele Palladino.

Less than one year after his arrival, the ex-Monza boss made way for vastly experienced coach Stefano Pioli, a former Scudetto winner who has returned for his second spell at Stadio Franchi.

Having won the title at AC Milan in 2022, Pioli was far less successful with Al-Nassr in Saudi Arabia, so he will be keen to prove a point on his return to Serie A.

Following warm-up wins over Grosseto and Carrarese in July, Fiorentina set off for England, where they started a brief tour by losing 2-0 to Leicester City, before drawing with Nottingham Forest and Manchester United.

The Viola then commenced their fourth straight Conference League campaign, having previously lost two finals and made last season's semis. Despite losing star man Moise Kean to a first-half red card, Pioli's men still beat Polissya Zhytomyr 3-0 in the first leg of the playoffs, setting themselves up to reach the league phase.

Aiming to build on that momentum, Pioli will now meet a team he has achieved his most Serie A victories against to date, with a record of 14 wins from 23 matches. Furthermore, Fiorentina are unbeaten in their last nine meetings with Cagliari, winning all of the last four.

The clubs last met in April, when Cagliari let a lead slip and were beaten 2-1 on home turf, and they now have another chance to end that winless streak versus the Viola.

Setting off on their third straight season in Italy's top flight, the Rossoblu survived a familiar scrap to avoid the drop last term, finishing five points clear of danger in 15th place.

A 3-0 win over relegation rivals Venezia on the penultimate matchday made sure of mathematical safety, and the Sardinian side ended up with the same points tally (36) as one year earlier, when Claudio Ranieri guided them through their top-flight return.

After burnishing his reputation as a survival specialist, Davide Nicola departed for a new role at Cremonese, and unproven head coach Fabio Pisacane was handed his first senior post, two months after winning the Coppa Italia primavera by beating AC Milan's youth team in the final.

Having won just two of six games in pre-season, Cagliari then returned to competitive action with last week's cup tie against Serie B side Virtus Entella. Roberto Piccoli's latest strike put them 1-0 up just before the break, but it ultimately took penalties to squeeze into round two, where Frosinone await.

Cagliari form (all competitions): W

Fiorentina form (all competitions): W

Team News

Although he was sent off in midweek - only after scoring and laying on an assist - Fiorentina's leading man Moise Kean remains in Florence for now.

After finishing second in the 2024-25 Capocannoniere rankings, the Italy forward was expected to leave, but he should spearhead Stefano Pioli's 3-4-2-1 formation on Sunday.

David De Gea also turned down several offers and decided to stay, while new signings Jacopo Fazzini, Simon Sohm and Edin Dzeko all featured on Thursday evening.

Back in Italy after a spell at Fenerbahce, 39-year-old Dzeko is the only man to have scored in all of the last 18 years across Europe's top 10 leagues - and he has found the net seven times in his last nine season-opening matches.

Fellow forward Lucas Beltran was left out of the Conference League squad due to a potential transfer away, while the Viola are closing in on a deal to sign Cagliari's top scorer in 2024-25.

With Roberto Piccoli set to jump ship, and veteran striker Leonardo Pavoletti sidelined by injury, Sebastiano Esposito - scorer of eight goals on loan at Empoli from Inter Milan last term - should lead the hosts' attack.

Meanwhile, at the back, Sebastiano Luperto has resumed full training after a calf problem ruled him out of playing Virtus Entella, and he is set to join Yerry Mina in central defence.

Cagliari possible starting lineup: Caprile; Luperto, Mina, Obert; Zortea, Adopo, Prati, Folorunsho, Idrissi; Luvumbo, Esposito

Fiorentina possible starting lineup: De Gea; Comuzzo, Pongracic, Ranieri; Dodo, Fagioli, Sohm, Gosens; Gudmundsson, Fazzini; Kean