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

Two teams expected to fight for Serie A survival will clash on Monday evening, as Cagliari welcome Lecce to Sardinia.

Both sides lost their second league game last week, before the Rossoblu slumped out of the cup.

Match preview

Having started the season promisingly, by beating Arezzo in the Coppa Italia and picking up three points in Parma, Cagliari have since suffered back-to-back defeats.

The first was expected, as they lost 1-0 at home to reigning Serie A champions Inter Milan, who had also won on all of their last six trips to Sardinia.

However, Thursday's loss to recently relegated Hellas Verona saw the Rossoblu exit the cup and miss out on an enticing last-16 tie against Roma.

Dating back to the tail end of last term, Fabio Piscane's side have still won four of their last six competitive matches, so he may not be overly concerned.

Like Lecce, top-flight survival is their priority rather than a cup run, and the pair will scrap for precious league points on Monday.

Across 22 prior meetings in Cagliari, the hosts have only posted seven wins, so precedent is not on their side.

When they last met in February, Lecce were 2-0 winners at Unipol Domus, before both clubs went on to escape the drop.

The Salento side needed two late wins to keep them up at the very end of last season, as Eusebio Di Francesco finally succeeded after back-to-back relegations elsewhere.

Lecce then kicked off the current campaign by beating newly promoted Venezia at Stadio Penzo, before suffering a 4-0 home defeat at the hands of Roma, who raced three goals ahead within 25 minutes.

Now, for the third straight week, Di Francesco must face one of his former clubs, having endured a tough time at Cagliari in the 2020-21 season - just five victories from 27 games.

As his Lecce side did not have a midweek tie in the Coppa Italia, having previously been eliminated by Palermo, they should be primed to seek another away win.

Cagliari Serie A form:

Cagliari form (all competitions):

Lecce Serie A form:

Lecce form (all competitions):

Team News

Pisacane made several changes on Thursday, but Cagliari should be back to full strength for this important league game.

Though the Rossoblu recently lost Sebastiano Esposito and Gennaro Borrelli, they have added M'Bala Nzola to Pisacane's attacking options, so the experienced striker can compete with Paul Mendy and Kevin Carlos for selection.

However, the home side are still without French forward Yael Trepy - who is recovering from a serious accident - and long-term absentee Riyad Idrissi, while Yerry Mina continues to struggle with a calf problem.

Lecce will be missing their main summer signing, Willem Geubbels, who injured his ankle against Roma; Nikola Stulic is set to deputise.

The visitors completed late deals for Joel Monteiro and Ivan Ilic at the end of the transfer window, and both could make their first appearance on Monday.

Ilic must vie for a place alongside midfield mainstay Lassana Coulibaly, who has already hit the woodwork twice this term.

Cagliari possible starting lineup:

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

Lecce possible starting lineup:

Falcone; Veiga, Gaspar, Gabriel, Gallo; Ilic, Coulibaly, Gorter; Pierotti, Stulic, Monteiro