CAGLIARI v AC MILAN: MATCH PREVIEW

AC Milan are getting ready to begin 2026 with a clash against Cagliari on Matchday 18 of the 2025/26 Serie A season, scheduled for 2 January 2026 at 20:45 at the Unipol Domus Stadium in Cagliari. The Rossoneri, led by Coach Allegri, will face Pisacane's side. With the league approaching its halfway point, every point becomes crucial to keep pace in the standings. We approach kick-off with our Match Preview.

LATEST FROM MILANELLO
AC Milan come into this match off the back of a convincing 3-0 win over Hellas Verona in their most recent Serie A outing. The result consolidated the Rossoneri's position in the upper reaches of the table after a less positive spell, which included a home draw with Sassuolo and a 2-0 defeat to Napoli in the Supercoppa Italiana. The team are determined to continue on this positive path and pick up valuable points against Cagliari; to do so, they will welcome back Rafa Leão and Matteo Gabbia, at least from the bench. The conditions of Pulisic and Pavlović are still being evaluated after last-minute problems. Finally, Santiago Gimenez, who is out since long time, is joined by Christopher Nkunku, unavailable with an ankle problem..

"Tomorrow's match will be a difficult one", Massimiliano Allegri spoke ahead of the first match of the year. "They play good football and did very well and did very well against Torino, they break quickly and are technical in the area. We'll need to remain concentrated for the entire match". 

ALLEGRI: "AIMING TO START THE YEAR WELL IN CAGLIARI"

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LATEST FROM CAGLIARI
Cagliari have shown signs of improvement in recent weeks, winning two of their last four Serie A matches. Coach Pisacane's side secured an important 2-1 victory over Torino in their most recent outing, showing character and determination, above all through the goals of Semih Kılıçsoy. However, the previous 2-2 draw against Pisa left a slight bitter taste. Cagliari will look to capitalise on their home advantage to put AC Milan under pressure and continue their positive run of results at home. Long-term absentees Belotti and Felici remain sidelined, while Folorunsho is also out after undergoing surgery on the medial collateral ligament of his knee.

PRE-MATCH NUMBERS

• AC Milan are unbeaten in 14 consecutive matches against Cagliari in Serie A (10W, 4D); among the teams currently in the league, only against Lecce do the Rossoneri have a longer unbeaten streak (15) in the top flight (14 also against Hellas Verona).
• AC Milan are, along with Real Betis and Bayern Munich, one of the three teams in the top five European leagues 2025/26 to have not yet lost away from home (4W, 3D); the Rossoneri could remain unbeaten in each of their first eight away games in a single season for only the second time in the last 20 seasons (since 2006/07) - the other dates back to the 2020/21 season, when Stefano Pioli was in charge (a streak that reached 10).
• Christopher Nkunku, with two goals and two assists in 12 matches of this Serie A season, is one step away from matching his number of goals (three) and has already equalled his number of assists (two) from last season, in 27 total matches in the Premier League.

TIME MACHINE: CAGLIARI v AC MILAN

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WHERE TO WATCH CAGLIARI v AC MILAN
In Italy, the match will be shown live on DAZN, Sky and NOW. To watch it in a different country, you will need to head to the "AC Milan on TV" section under the heading "Abroad". The Matchday coverage will be available on Milan TV: with the live stream starting from 20:00 CET, leading you right up to kick-off. Following the match, there will be coverage of player interviews and Coach Allegri's press conference. Don't miss the coverage on acmilan.com, AC Milan Official App, the social media channels, and WhatsApp.

LATEST FROM SERIE A
The referee for the match will be Rosario Abisso, assisted by Luigi Rossi and Claudio Barone. The fourth official will be Matteo Marchetti. On VAR, there will be Giacomo Camplone, assisted by Marco Di Bello.

Serie A matchday 18 begins with Cagliari v AC Milan on Friday at 20:45 CET. On Saturday at 12:30 CET Como v Udinese, at 15:00 CET Genoa v Pisa and Sassuolo v Parma, at 18:00 CET Juventus v Lecce and at 20:45 CET Atalanta v Roma. Sunday at 12:30 CET Lazio v Napoli, at 15:00 CET Fiorentina v Cremonese, at 18:00 CET Hellas Verona v Torino and at 20:45 CET Inter v Bologna.

The current standings: Inter* 36; AC Milan* 35; Napoli* 34; Roma 33; Juventus 32; Como* 27; Bologna* 26; Lazio 24; Sassuolo, Atalanta and Udinese 22; Cremonese 21; Torino 20; Cagliari 18; Parma* 17; Lecce* 16; Genoa 14; Verona* 12; Pisa 11; Fiorentina 9. ^{(* = game in hand)}

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