With both sides sitting deep in the relegation zone at the moment, this can be described as a classic relegation six-pointer. Cesena may have the home advantage, but after four straight defeats in all competitions, Cavallucci Marini obviously need to show a massive improvement in order to win this one.

What is going on with Cesena?

After some very solid showings in the previous league campaign and boosted by the arrivals of quality players like Adrian Mutu, Jorge Martinez, Gianluca Comotto and Antonio Candreva, Cesena were expected to enjoy another successful season, but the team have been terribly underperforming in the first part of the league campaign. Boss Marco Giampaolo just couldn’t get this team playing the way it should, so the club chiefs decided to bring Daniele Arigoni to replace him. Cesena showed a lot of improvement under Arigoni, but the team have again entered the rough patch of form, having lost their last three league games. The gaffer intentionally sacrificed the Coppa Italia game with Napoli so as to rest his key players for what could easy be a game of the season for Cavallucci Marini, so everybody expects Cesena to shine against by far the weakest team in elite division.

Maurizio Lauro misses out through suspension, whereas Damjan Djokovic, Dominique Malonga and Raphael Martinho remain sidelined.

Novara in problems

Novara caused a major upset by gaining promotion to Serie A, but after the club management failed to properly reinforce the squad over the summer, it was clear that it would take a miracle to stop the team from going down. The newly promoted side started the season slowly, although they did manage to beat then out-of-form Inter at home and soon found themselves in the relegation zone. Having shown little improvement since, nobody is surprised to see them six points adrift of safety, especially when we take their away performances in the account. While Novara managed to avoid defeat in their last two home games, they picked up just 2 points from 8 away games this season, which gives them little hope before the trip to Cesena. The club chiefs managed to further reinforce the squad in January, with Giuseppe Mascara, Andrea Caracciolo and Daniel Jensen all arriving to increase competition for places.

Mascara, Caracciolo and Jensen should all start, but Carlalberto Ludi, Simone Pesce, Luigi Giorgi and Andrea Lisuzzo are all unavailable.

Verdict

Even if the two teams are currently tied on points, Cesena are the one that boast much more quality in the side and that is why I expect them to edge this one out. Novara are absolutely pathetic on the travels and I really cannot see them getting anything from this clash.

Our prediction: Home win

Odds: 2.05 (21/20)

Bookmaker: BetVictor