Roma without Svilar, Koné and Pellegrini as goal-shy Cagliari visit the Olimpico
Unbeaten Roma, third in Serie A and four points off leaders Inter and Lazio, welcome a Cagliari side that has lost twice in a row without scoring. Gian Piero Gasperini is without goalkeeper Mile Svilar, Manu Koné and Lorenzo Pellegrini, while Paulo Dybala is a doubt.
Roma return to the Stadio Olimpico on Tuesday evening still unbeaten after eight league games, and with a home record against Cagliari that offers the visitors little comfort. Cagliari, by contrast, come to Rome with no goals and no points from their last two outings.
Even with Svilar, Koné and Pellegrini missing, Gasperini's side look clearly the likelier winners against a Cagliari team that keeps drawing a blank in Rome, in a tight, low-scoring evening of no more than a couple of goals in which only one side finds the net.
Roma are without Svilar, who has a broken finger, Koné, whose hamstring problem is expected to keep him out until after the international break, and Pellegrini, who has a thigh injury. Gasperini said of Dybala, who has a calf problem: "we'll try things out this afternoon to see if we can have him with us on the bench." Cagliari coach Fabio Pisacane has confirmed that Harry Winks will miss the match with a back problem, while Mattia Felici and Riyad Idrissi are out with knee injuries and Yael Trepy is also expected to be absent.
Roma came from 2-0 down to draw 3-3 at Napoli at the weekend, with centre-back Leonardo Balerdi scoring twice, including an 89th-minute equaliser, to stretch their unbeaten Serie A run to 15 games. Cagliari, 9th on 13 points, lost 4-0 at Monza and 0-2 at home to Bologna and are three games without a win, though they have won three of their four league away games this season.
Donyell Malen, who has six goals in seven Serie A appearances this season, scored both goals when Roma beat Cagliari 2-0 in February. Cagliari won the reverse fixture 1-0 in December 2025, but they have not scored or taken a point away to Roma over the past four seasons.
