Cagliari vs Roma Predictions

• Roma won 10 of their final 18 Serie A games last season under Daniele De Rossi.
• Roma scored eight goals and conceded just one in two Serie A meetings with Cagliari last season.
• The hosts finished just one point above the drop zone.

De Rossi gears up for first full campaign

Roma head to Cagliari in the opening round of Serie A games on Sunday in what will be coach Daniele De Rossi’s first full season in charge.

De Rossi made an impact after replacing Jose Mourinho in January as the Giallorossi won 10 of their final 18 league games, securing a Europa League berth thanks to a sixth place finish.

A Champions League place will be Roma’s goal, while Cagliari will hope for a better showing themselves after finishing up just one point clear of danger.

Gli Isolani have a new coach in charge as Davide Nicola has replaced Claudio Ranieri, who retired from club management at the end of last season – although he did leave the door open for an international appointment.

Roma look likely winners

Cagliari are a bit of an unknown right now under former Empoli and Torino boss Nicola, but in terms of their squad they are clearly lacking quality and haven’t done enough over the summer to suggest they can offer much more.

In contrast Roma have been busy, signing La Liga’s top scorer from last season Artem Dovbyk from Girona and French Olympian Enzo Le Fée from Rennes.

Roma overcame Cagliari 4-1 away and 4-0 at home last season and are a level above their hosts, so an away win is a confident pick here.

A 3-1 win for Roma is the correct score pick as Cagliari did score in their final 10 home games of last season, while Roma managed just one shut-out in their last 10 but still have enough quality to win with room to spare.

Dovbyk should score plenty of goals this season but may not start on Sunday after a limited pre-season with his new club. Instead, Lorenzo Pellegrini looks a good anytime scorer pick as he has made an impact in warm-up games – scoring twice – and he was one of the few members of the Italy squad who managed to impress at Euro 2024.