Roma cannot afford to slip-up if they are to have any hope of wresting the Scudetto from champions Inter, while a resurgent and angry Cagliari must win as they look to guarantee top-flight football next season.

Cagliari have looked doomed throughout this campaign. The sale of David Suazo, the constant chopping-and-changing of Coaches and finally a three-point penalisation have rooted the Sardinians to the bottom of the table.

But all of a sudden the Rossoblu have turned a corner. Cagliari are unbeaten in three matches and have taken seven points from a possible nine. Davide Ballardini’s young and enterprising side were unlucky to draw 1-1 with Sampdoria last Saturday, who equalised in the last minute, after Robert Acquafresca had a goal disallowed and Daniele Conti hit the post.

The Casteddu’s morale will be high as Roma cross the water to Cagliari, especially if their penalisation is overturned on Wednesday. The Giallorossi have always struggled at the Sant’Elia. The title contenders haven’t won in Sardinia since October 1995 and lost 3-2 at the 24,000-seater stadium last May.

Daniele Conti, son of Roma legend Bruno, will be the only member of a dynamic midfield quartet unavailable against Roma. Cagliari bossed Sampdoria in central areas and will be confident of dominating Luciano Spalletti’s team who will be without Daniele De Rossi, Simone Perrotta and Mirko Vucinic.

Roma overcame their defeat in the Derby del Cupolone against Lazio by beating Empoli 2-1 at the Olimpico, slashing Inter’s lead at the summit of Serie A to just four points with eight games to go. Doubts remain over the fitness of Juan and talisman Francesco Totti, who is struggling with an injury to his right knee. Four Romanisti have also been called up to represent their countries in midweek which could have dramatic repercussions for their team-sheet come Saturday.

The absences of key players will hinder the Giallorossi but the inception of Alberto Aquilani will ensure that any shortfalls in security will be compensated by creativity. Not to be dispirited Roma clearly believe that they can conquer Cagliari.

“I still believed when we were 11 points back,” Aquilani enthused, while club captain Totti announced: “I thought we could do it when we were nine points behind.”

Keep an eye on: Pasquale Foggia (Cagliari) – The 24-year-old fantasista is on-loan from Lazio and will be hoping to throw a spanner in the works of the Biancocelesti’s rivals. Foggia, Cagliari’s Man of the Match in Genoa, is blessed with exquisite technical ability and electric pace which is perhaps deserving of a bigger stage.

Last season: Cagliari 3-2 Roma

Form guide: Cagliari (W L W W D) Roma (W W W L W)

Cagliari (probable): Storari; Pisano, Lopez, Canini, Agostini, Agostini, Biondini, D’Agostino, Del Grosso; Foggia, Jeda, Acquafresca

Roma (probable): Doni; Cassetti, Mexes, Panucci, Tonetto; Aquilani, Pizarro, Taddei, Giuly, Mancini; Totti

Lazio could give city rivals Roma’s title bid a massive boost as current Scudetto front runners Inter travel to the Stadio Olimpico. The Nerazzurri suffered only their second loss of the season against Juventus last weekend, a result which allowed the Giallorossi to close to within four points at the top of the table. The difference would be just a solitary point had Roma not lost the Derby della Capitale last Wednesday.

Inter had looked to be cruising to the title a month ago when they drew 1-1 with their nearest challenger, but since then former Lazio hero Roberto Mancini’s men have gone off the boil. A defeat to Napoli followed just a few days later, while they were embarrassingly dumped out of the Champions League by Liverpool after a couple of lacklustre displays. After drawing with Genoa and slipping up against Juve, the initiative is now with Roma – especially with the calendario being in their favour.

With an injury list including key players such as Esteban Cambiasso, Olivier Dacourt, Walter Samuel and Ivan Cordoba, it is unlikely that Mancio will make too many changes for the trip south. Pele is back in the squad after a one-match ban, but a place on the bench awaits him, with the only changes expected to come in attack. Julio Cruz is definitely absent through suspension, while Zlatan Ibrahimovic continues to be troubled by a tendon injury so there is every chance that the new strike force of ex-Lazio ace Hernan Crespo and David Suazo will be unleashed.

The 2007-08 campaign has largely been forgettable for Delio Rossi and Co, as they have struggled to hit the same heights as last term when they achieved an excellent third-place finish. Their Champions League campaign ended early despite receiving a decent enough group stage draw – minus Real Madrid – while they have never really got going in the League. However, last week’s victory in the Rome derby at least gave the fans a consolation prize, while the Biancocelesti are also still in the Coppa Italia. Their opponents in the last four? Inter.

So this will be the perfect opportunity for Rossi to size up the Nerazzurri ahead of their Cup encounter later this month. With Inter looking a tad shaky at the back in recent times – goalkeeper Julio Cesar excluded – it is clearly a case of get them while they are down for Lazio, with Rolando Bianchi set to replace Stefano Mauri in order to form an impressive striking trident along with Goran Pandev, formerly of Inter, and Tommaso Rocchi. Elsewhere, Sanchez Cribari is expected to replace January signing David Rozenhal, while the suspended Massimo Mutarelli makes way for Gaby Mudingayi.

Although Inter have a dominant record in recent meetings between the clubs – with their last defeat coming in December 2003 – this is a fixture which will always bring back bad memories for everyone associated with the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza outfit due to the events of May 5, 2002. With the Nerazzurri in a great position to net their first Scudetto since 1989, they twice let the lead slip on their way to a heart-breaking 4-2 defeat which allowed Juventus to sneak in to grab the title. A similar result this time out could prove to be almost as devastating.

Keep an eye on: Hernan Crespo (Inter) – With the Nerazzurri set to be without their two top scorers, the onus will be on the Argentine ace to find the back of the net against his former club.

Last season: Lazio 0-2 Inter

Form guide: Lazio (D W W W L) Inter (L W W D L)

Lazio (probable): Ballotta; De Silvestri, Siviglia, Cribari, Kolarov; Dabo, Ledesma, Mudingayi; Pandev; Rocchi, Bianchi

Inter (probable): Julio Cesar; Maicon, Burdisso, Materazzi, Maxwell; Stankovic, Zanetti, Chivu; Jimenez; Suazo, Crespo

Прогноз Kappara.ru : Интер больше 1.0 1.45 , тотал матча больше 2.0 1.53 ,удаление Да