Sports Mole previews Sunday’s Serie A clash between Bologna and Napoli, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
Both held to goalless draws in midweek, Bologna and Napoli will resume Serie A duties on Sunday, as the pair clash at Stadio Dall’Ara.
Neither side has been able to build any momentum in Europe, but they are both flying high in Italy’s top flight.
Match preview
Bologna have accrued 18 points from their first 10 Serie A matches this season, equalling the club’s best start to a league campaign in the 21st century.
Building on last term’s Coppa Italia triumph, the Rossoblu are currently unbeaten in nine games across all competitions, including last week’s clash with local rivals Parma.
At Stadio Tardini, Vincenzo Italiano‘s side fought back to take maximum points from a feisty Derby dell’Emilia, with Santiago Castro‘s first Serie A brace lifting them into the top six.
That success preceded a home game against SK Brann on Thursday evening, when Bologna were left frustrated by their stubborn visitors and had to settle for a 0-0 draw.
Though Charalampos Lykogiannis received a red card midway through the first half, the Emilian side still carved out several chances – albeit a single point puts them just inside the Europa League playoff places.
While victory will be their goal at home to the Italian champions, precedent suggests another stalemate could be on the cards this weekend: Bologna and Napoli have drawn all of their last three meetings at the Dall’Ara.
As a result, Napoli have won just one of the last five games against their Rossoblu rivals, after previously winning five times on the spin.
Antonio Conte‘s side recently reclaimed top spot by beating title rivals Inter Milan, before edging past Lecce thanks to penalty specialist Vanja Milinkovic-Savic saving another spot kick – his fifth from 10 since the start of last season.
Remarkably, the Serbian stopper was called upon yet again last weekend, when Napoli’s 100% home record was ended by an eventful goalless draw with Como.
On that occasion, Milinkovic-Savic cleaned up his own mess after felling Alvaro Morata – by saving the Spanish striker’s penalty – and he backed that up by keeping another clean sheet in midweek.
Despite goals seeming to be guaranteed in Tuesday’s Champions League clash with Eintracht Frankfurt – whose first three games had all featured six – a close-fought contest in Naples ended 0-0.
Eljif Elmas and Scott McTominay both missed chances as Napoli ultimately settled for a single point and stayed just inside the all-important top 24.
Still unbeaten on home turf, the Partenopei have lost two of five Serie A away games so far – already as many as throughout last term’s Scudetto-winning campaign – so they will take nothing for granted on Sunday.
Bologna Serie A form:
D W W D D W
Bologna form (all competitions):
W W D D W D
Napoli Serie A form:
L W L W W D
Napoli form (all competitions):
L L W W D D
Team News
Back from a recent bout of pneumonia, Italiano is set to oversee his 200th Serie A match as a manager, and his team selection will remain something of a mystery.
To date, the former Fiorentina coach has named the same lineup in consecutive matches on only two occasions – and he always rotates his resources following European commitments.
So, it remains to be seen whether Jens Odgaard and Juan Miranda return; top scorer Riccardo Orsolini surely will, while Castro should keep his place after scoring three goals in his last three Serie A appearances – the same tally as across the previous 22.
Bologna are only missing veteran pair Ciro Immobile and Remo Freuler due to injury, but Napoli’s woes run deeper: this week, Billy Gilmour and Leonardo Spinazzola both joined Belgian legends Romelu Lukaku and Kevin De Bruyne on the sidelines.
Milinkovic-Savic should continue to deputise for injured goalkeeper Alex Meret, but Conte can recall Lorenzo Lucca, who served a UEFA suspension on Tuesday. The latter is likely to lose a battle for the lone striker’s role, with Rasmus Hojlund expected to start.
Bologna possible starting lineup:
Skorupski; Holm, Lucumi, Heggem, Miranda; Ferguson, Moro; Orsolini, Odgaard, Cambiaghi; Castro
Napoli possible starting lineup:
Milinkovic-Savic; Di Lorenzo, Rrahmani, Buongiorno, Olivera; Anguissa, Lobotka, McTominay; Politano, Hojlund, Elmas
We say: Bologna 1-0 Napoli
Both teams have drawn two of their last three games – plus all of the previous three head-to-heads at Stadio Dall’Ara – but Bologna might just sneak it on Sunday.
Though Napoli’s back line has improved since key defenders returned, they still lack fluency up front; meanwhile, their hosts are well-drilled and possess several threats.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
No Data Analysis info
Previews by email
Click here to get Sports Mole‘s daily email of previews and predictions for every major game!
