Serie A Preview: Milan vs Cagliari – Team News, Line-ups & Prediction | OneFootball

Saturday’s Serie A action completes at Stadio San Siro as high-flying Milan take on relegation-threatened Cagliari. Newly-appointed manager Sergio Conceicao braces up for his touchline debut in Italy’s top flight after taking only two games at his new job to win a trophy.

Indeed, Milan hired Conceicao to replace Paulo Fonseca in late December after losing significant ground on the Serie A top-four pace. A 1-1 draw against Roma on this ground was the final nail in the Portuguese tactician’s coffin as Rossoneri boss.

Milan came into their first Supercoppa Italiana campaign in three years with low expectations. However, they went to great lengths to bring home the trophy and draw level with Inter at eight titles each. The 19-time Italian champions performed a double miracle in the Middle East.

Despite trailing Juventus by a goal ‘to nil’ beyond the 70th minute, Milan turned the game on its head to claim a 2-1 triumph and set up a grand final against Inter. Conceicao’s men were in a near-impossible situation when Lautaro Martinez and Mehdi Taremi fired the Nerazurri 2-0 up.

Yet, goals from Theo Hernandez, Christian Pulisic, and Tammy Abraham settled a breathless encounter in Riyadh, inspiring Milan to a 3-2 win. Like their hosts, Cagliari enjoyed a triumphant first weekend of the new calendar year, coming from behind to beat rock-bottom Monza 2-1.

Under-pressure coach Davide Nicola secured a lifeline at the Unipol Domus but isn’t out of the woods by any stretch of the imagination. The Islanders come into proceedings fractionally off the bottom three, with goal difference separating them from 18th-placed Lecce.

Match Preview

Milan

Conceicao probably couldn’t have imagined a better start to his adventure at San Siro. However, he can’t let the Super Cup triumph carry him away, considering Milan languish a whopping nine points adrift of fourth-placed Lazio ahead of the kick-off.

Milan faltered toward the end of Fonseca’s regime, picking up just two wins from their last seven league games (D4, L1). With a game in hand on most of the teams better placed in the standings, the hope isn’t dead yet. That doesn’t change the fact they must launch a substantial winning run.

Though Milan have only lost one league match at home this season (W4, D1), consistency has recently been an issue. They’ve won just once in their last five Serie A fixtures at San Siro (D3, L1), failing to score more than one goal in each winless outing.

Breaking the deadlock would be a step in the right direction, especially considering Milan haven’t lost when scoring first in Serie A this term (W7, D2).

Cagliari

That rings especially true for Cagliari. Alongside Milan, they’re the only remaining Serie A side to avoid defeat in every league fixture when opening the scoring in 2024/25 (W3, D3). One of those matches came against none other than the Rossoneri in November.

Indeed, Cagliari drew first blood in a goal-glutted 3-3 stalemate at the Unipol Domus, halting a four-game losing league streak against Milan. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough for all three points, worsening the Islanders’ humiliating head-to-head record in the 21st century.

They’ve beaten Milan once in 39 meetings since the turn of the new millennium (D8, L30). Moreover, their last three competitive visits to San Siro have ended in defeat by 4+ goals ‘to one,’ underscoring the size of the task awaiting them on Saturday.

Before the abovementioned victory at Monza, Cagliari had gone six consecutive away league games without winning (D2, L4). Therefore, defying a disastrous record against Milan looks like a pipe dream.

Team News

Injured trio Alessandro Florenzi, Noah Okafor, and Samuel Chukwueze are unavailable for selection. Meanwhile, Emerson Royal has accumulated yellow cards, meaning Milan captain Davide Calabria should return to the starting line-up.

As for Cagliari, Kingstone Mutandwa and Zito Luvumbo are out with injuries. Despite suffering a knock against Monza, Yerry Mina will likely make the starting XI. The same goes for winter arrival Elia Caprile, who joined the club from Napoli earlier this month.

Milan vs Cagliari Potential Starting Line-ups

Milan (4-2-3-1): Maignan; Calabria, Tomori, Thiaw, Hernandez; Fofana, Musah; Pulisic, Reijnders, Leao; Morata.

Milan vs Cagliari Prediction

Conceicao has renewed optimism at San Siro. Rafael Leao, Hernandez, and Pulisic ran riot against Inter, leading us to believe Cagliari won’t stand a chance today.