Our prediction for this Serie A match:
Buoyed by a 3-0 win over Napoli at Stadio Diego Armando Maradona, Atalanta will look to keep their Champions League hopes alive when they take on Cagliari at Unipol Domus. Both Teun Koopmeiners and Ademola Lookman should be recalled to the starting XI, while Charles De Ketelaere remains in the recovery room. The Sardinians, on the other hand, are sitting in the danger zone, only two points clear of bottom three and, no doubt, they are desperate to grab something from Sunday’s clash.
Atalanta, though, produced a brilliant display against the Partenopei at the weekend, which is probably the main reason why we are going to bet on the away team. All Andrea Petagna Leonardo Pavoletti, and Marco Mancosu should miss out with injuries for the home team. It has to be noted that Atalanta defeated Cagliari 2-1 in their last meeting in Sardinia.
Highlighted Player (Marten de Roon):
After spending his youth career in ASWH, Feyenoord and Sparta Rotterdam, Marten de Roon made his senior debut on 27 March 2010. The midfielder played for Sparta against Twente back then, but he made no more than three appearances for de Kasteelheren in the 2009/2010 season.
Marten de Roon joined Heerenveen in 2012 and in 2015 he moved to Serie A side Atalanta. He made 36 appearances for Atalanta in the 2015/2016 Serie A campaign, but on 4 July, 2016, he signed a contract with Middlesbrough for a reported fee of £12m. The Dutch footballer scored one goal in three appearances for Netherlands U19 team.
Marten de Roon was born in Zwinjndrecht, Netherlands on 29 March, 1991. His main position is central midfield, but he is capable of playing as a defensive and attacking midfielder as well. Martin de Roon is a right-footed footballer and he is 185 cm tall.
Highlighted Team (Cagliari):
Cagliari are a professional football club based in Cagliari, Sardinia. I Rossoblu (The Red and Blues) compete in Italian Serie A and the club’s biggest success came in 1970, when they won the national championship.
Cagliari finished the season in top position in the standings, four points clear of Juventus and it has to be noted that Luigi Riva led Cagliari to their first Serie A trophy.
I Rossoblu welcome their rivals at Stadio Sant’Elia and the capacity of the stadium is 16,000. In the 1993/1994 season Cagliari made it to the UEFA Cup semis, with the team suffering a loss to fellow Italian club Inter in the two-legged tie.
Giuseppe Pancaro helped Cagliari record a 3-2 win over Inter in the first leg, but I Rossoblu were hammered by the Nerazzurri in the second leg (3-0). Palermo are regarded as Cagliari’s main rivals and the two teams square off against each other in the Derby delle Isole.