Inter against Cagliari to stay in first

At 18:00 CEST, Inter will host Cagliari at San Siro with the aim of extending their lead at the top. After their draw in Parma last week, the Nerazzurri’s three-point advantage over Napoli remains unchanged with one less match to play. Inzaghi’s men, who are on a six-game unbeaten run where they’ve earned 14 points, are now looking to kick on in the final stretch. As for Cagliari, they come into the match on the back of beating Monza and drawing against Empoli, keeping two clean sheets in the process. They remain clear of the relegation zone, but the gap isn’t so big that Davide Nicola’s men can feel entirely comfortable yet.

HEAD TO HEAD

Inter are unbeaten in 13 (W11 D2) of their last 14 matches against Cagliari in Serie A (the exception being the 1-2 defeat at Unipol Domus on 1 March 2019). Simone Inzaghi has not lost any of his five meetings (W4 D1) against the Sardinians as a Nerazzurri coach in the tournament: among coaches who have never lost against the Rossoblu in the top-flight with Inter, only Roberto Mancini has more matches (nine, W6 D3). Inter are the team against which Cagliari have conceded the most goals in Serie A (152 in 87 games), for an average of 1.7 per match. Furthermore, the Nerazzurri have scored in 25 home games in a row against the Rossoblu: this is the longest open streak of consecutive home games in which they have scored against a single opponent. Cagliari faces Inter with a negative gap of at least 38 points in the standings at the start of the championship matchday for only the fifth time in Serie A, but all in the 2000s: the last one dates to 14 April 2024, on matchday 32 (-52), with the match ending in a draw (2-2).

DID YOU KNOW?

Inter have scored in 37 consecutive home games in Serie A – their last goalless game at the Meazza was on 15 April 2023 against Monza – and only Lille have a longer open streak (39) in the big five European leagues. Furthermore, only once have the Nerazzurri recorded a longer streak of consecutive home games with goals scored in the topflight – 60 between August 2005 and October 2008. Cagliari have kept a clean sheet in their last two league games (W1 D1) – as many times as in the Sardinians' previous 28 matches in the tournament – ​​and could make it three consecutive clean sheets in Serie A for the first time since October 2012 (with Ivo Pulga as coach). The team that has scored the most goals from set-piece situations (Inter, 20) and the team that has conceded the most set piece goals (Cagliari, 17) in the Serie A in 2024/25 will face each other in this game. Inter are the team with the most players with at least one assist provided in the big five European leagues (20,), ahead of Barcelona (19) and Roma (18) and eight more than Cagliari (12).

PLAYERS

Lautaro Martínez is the only player to have been involved in more than 100 shots (shots taken + chances created) in each of the last six Serie A seasons (since 2019/20); in the current season, the Argentine has 126, fewer than only Nico Paz (137) and Nikola Krstovic (151). Furthermore, Cagliari is the team against which the Nerazzurri forward has been involved in the most goals in Serie A: 11 in 10 games (10 goals, 1 assist). Marcus Thuram found the back of the net against Parma after a nine-game drought and could find the net in two league games in a row for the first time since last November and December (four in a row). The Frenchman averaged a goal every 114 minutes from the start of the season until the end of December, while in 2025 his average has risen to a goal every 409 minutes. Leonardo Pavoletti has not started a Serie A match since December 30 2023, against Empoli; among players with at least 20 appearances since the beginning of 2024, the Cagliari striker is the only one to have played 100% of the games as a substitute (29/29). Furthermore, he scored three goals against Inter in his first six matches (all at home), remaining scoreless in the following six.

DISCIPLINE

Suspended: none Cautioned: Mkhitaryan, Pavard, Asslani, Bastoni (Inter); Deiola, Marin, Mina, Obert, Piccoli, Luperto, Pavoletti (Cagliari)

REFEREE

DI BELLO (BERTI – CECCONI) IV: PERENZONI, VAR: CHIFFI, AVAR: PATERNA

UPCOMING MATCHES IN SERIE A

Bologna-Inter (Sunday 20 April, 18.00 CEST) Cagliari-Fiorentina (Monday 21 April 15.00 CEST) (Photo Getty Images)