Francesco Acerbi, a defender for Inter, feels he has experienced a revival in his football career after overcoming illness. At 37, Acerbi has twice battled and conquered cancer during his notable career.
He has played 409 Serie A matches, achieving 99 clean sheets and winning the league title once in 2024. Additionally, he was part of Italy’s triumph at the 2020 European Championships and Lazio’s victory in the 2019 Coppa Italia.
As Inter prepares to face Cagliari, Acerbi reflects on life’s priorities. “I had a football rebirth after my illness,” he shared with Sky Sports Italia. He emphasised that living healthily isn’t just about early nights or avoiding wine but understanding life’s true desires. “We must always look inside ourselves and try to improve,” Acerbi added.Cagliari has started their Serie A season strongly, securing seven points from four matches, placing them seventh. Their sole defeat came against Napoli, the reigning champions. Andrea Belotti is a player to watch for Cagliari. After scoring twice against Lecce recently, he aims to score in consecutive Serie A games for the first time since February 2022.
For Inter, Lautaro Martinez is crucial. He has scored more goals against Cagliari than any other team in Serie A, netting 11 times in 11 matches. Only Francesco Totti and Ciro Immobile have scored more against Cagliari in the top-flight.Inter has dominated recent away games against Cagliari, winning eight of the last nine encounters (L1), including all five most recent matches while keeping clean sheets in the last two. However, they have not kept three consecutive clean sheets away against Cagliari before.
Inter’s Away Form and Challenges
Despite their strong record against Cagliari, Inter’s recent away form is shaky. They have won only three of their last ten away league games (D3 L4), scoring and conceding 13 goals each. They suffered a 3-4 defeat to Juventus recently and could lose both opening away games this season for the sixth time in their history.Cagliari has shown resilience this season by gaining four points from losing positions, more than any other team. Conversely, Inter has dropped six points from winning positions.
In their last 15 league meetings with Cagliari, Inter remains unbeaten in 14 (W12 D2), scoring an average of 2.6 goals per game. The only loss for the Sardinians during this period was in March 2019 under Rolando Maran.The Opta win probability suggests a challenging match ahead: Cagliari stands at a 19.1% chance of winning, while Inter holds a stronger position with a 58.5% probability of victory; there’s also a possibility of a draw at 22.4%.