Napoli began their Serie A title defence with a 2-0 win over newly-promoted Sassuolo, while Cagliari drew their opening match. Napoli are currently on a 13-match unbeaten run in Serie A, the longest in Europe’s top-five leagues. They will be confident going into this game, especially with their strong home form, having won 8 of their last 11 Serie A home games. Napoli have won their second match of the season for the past five years, so history is on their side.
Cagliari, on the other hand, have faced difficulties, especially after losing their top scorer Roberto Piccoli to Sassuolo. They need to improve their away form, which has seen them win just one of their last ten Serie A away games. In their last 28 Serie A encounters, Napoli have only lost once to Cagliari. Napoli have scored more than one goal in 11 of their last 13 home games against Cagliari, so they will be looking to continue their dominance.
Napoli will be aiming for a clean sheet, given their solid defensive record, having conceded more than one goal only once in their last 13 matches. Cagliari, however, will need to show significant improvement to challenge Napoli in this match.
Key absentees include Romelu Lukaku and Miguel Gutiérrez for Napoli, while Cagliari may miss Leonardo Pavoletti due to a knee injury.
