Hellas Verona will be looking to continue their push for the top six in Serie A when they resume their 2019-20 campaign at home to mid-table Cagliari on Saturday afternoon.
Ivan Juric's side are currently eighth in Italy's top flight, just four points behind sixth-placed Napoli, while Cagliari occupy 12th ahead of the league's restart this weekend.
Match preview
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Verona were promoted back to Serie A for the 2018-19 campaign courtesy of their playoff success in Serie B last term, but they have no fears of dropping back down to that level next season.
Indeed, an impressive campaign to date has left Juric's team in eighth spot in the table, picking up 35 points from their 25 matches, which has left them in a top-six race at this stage of the campaign.
Verona actually have a game in hand over both Napoli and seventh-placed AC Milan, and a win on Saturday would, temporarily at least, see them rise above Milan into seventh.
The Yellow and Blues entered the lockdown period off the back of a 2-1 defeat at Sampdoria, but they famously beat Juventus on home soil towards the start of February and have only lost one of their last 10 in Italy's top flight, which is an indication of their form before the action was called to a halt.
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Cagliari, though, have lost their last three in the league, including a 4-3 home defeat to Roma in their last game before the coronavirus pandemic led to the campaign being postponed.
Walter Zenga's side have won eight, drawn eight and lost nine of their 25 league matches this season, which has left them in 12th position in the table.
Gli Isolani were relegated to Serie B at the end of the 2014-15 campaign, but they are seven points clear of the relegation zone this season, and it would be a surprise to see them dragged into trouble.
Cagliari have actually lost on their last three visits to Verona in Serie A, but the two sides played out a 1-1 draw when they locked horns in the reverse match back in September.
Hellas Verona Serie A form: WDDWDL
Cagliari Serie A form: DDDLLL
Team News
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Valentin Eysseric is again expected to be absent for Verona due to a tendon injury, but the home side's squad is otherwise in good shape ahead of the restart this weekend.
Samuel Di Carmine should again lead the Verona line with support from Mattia Zaccagni and Valerio Verre, meaning that experienced forward Giampaolo Pazzini might have to accept a spot on the bench once again.
The much-coveted Marash Kumbulla is in line to return to the starting XI, though.
As for Cagliari, Joao Pedro will miss out through suspension due to the red that that he picked up in the defeat to Roma before the lockdown period.
Christian Oliva, Radja Nainggolan and Paolo Farago are on the sidelines through injury, meanwhile, and the same can be said for Leonardo Pavoletti, who will not play again this season.
Giovanni Simeone and Gaston Pereiro both came off the bench against Roma and are now in line to start with Pedro and Nainggolan dropping out of the XI.
Hellas Verona possible starting lineup:
Silvestri; Rrahmani, Gunter, Kumbulla; Adjapong, Amrabat, Pessina, Lazovic; Zaccagni, Di Carmine, Verre
Cagliari possible starting lineup:
Olsen; Cacciatore, Pisacane, Klavan, Pellegrini; Rog, Oliva, Ionita; Simeone, Paloschi, Pereiro
We say: Hellas Verona 2-1 Cagliari
Cagliari have incredibly not won in their last 11 games in Italy's top flight, meaning that the lockdown period might have come at a good time. Verona have been impressive on home soil this term, though, picking up 21 points from their 12 matches, and we fancy the top-six challengers to triumph on Saturday night.
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Hellas Verona win with a probability of 45.67%. A win for Cagliari had a probability of 28.44% and a draw had a probability of 25.9%.
The most likely scoreline for a Hellas Verona win was 1-0 with a probability of 11.06%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (9.12%) and 2-0 (8.2%). The likeliest Cagliari win was 0-1 (8.31%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.31%). The actual scoreline of 2-1 was predicted with a 9.1% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Hellas Verona would win this match.
