Bolognavs.Fiorentina

While the Viola added to their scintillating league streak with a thumping midweek win in Europe, their hosts for this season's first Derby dell'Appennino are still winless in the Champions League.

Match preview

Although they claimed just the second point of their league-phase campaign on Wednesday evening, holding in-form Benfica goalless in Lisbon, Bologna's slim hopes of extending their debut Champions League season were effectively extinguished.

The Rossoblu sit fourth-last in the standings with two games remaining, having scored just a single goal so far - and they are the only team yet to find the net from open play.

On the domestic front, Bologna have recently shown distinct signs of improvement, inching up to eighth place in Serie A and advancing to the Coppa Italia quarter-finals.

Last week, though, the Emilian club let a two-goal lead slip against a Juventus side managed by their former boss Thiago Motta, who was sent off before Juve roared back to salvage a 2-2 draw in Turin. Strikes from Dan Ndoye and Tommaso Pobega had put the visitors in control, but they ultimately conceded an equaliser during second-half stoppage time.

After two tough tests on the road, Bologna now return to Stadio Dall'Ara, where they have lost just one of their last 24 league fixtures: they are also one of only four teams unbeaten in home matches this term, alongside Lazio, Juventus and Fiorentina.

Head coach Vincenzo Italiano left the latter to take over from Motta in the summer, and despite some early stumbles, his team's tally of 22 points is exactly the same as this time last year.

With Italiano then in charge of the Viola, Fiorentina lost three of their last four Serie A matches against Bologna, after going undefeated through the previous 16.

However, they will travel to the Dall'Ara expecting to end that trend, having won all of their last eight league matches, thereby equalling a 64-year-old club record.

Under Italiano's successor Raffaele Palladino, the Tuscan side have collected more than 30 points at this stage of a top-flight campaign for the first time this century.

Not only have Fiorentina become more ruthless, with Moise Kean enjoying career-best form up front, but they also tend to retain any advantage, being the sole team across Europe's top five leagues yet to concede a goal during the final half-hour.

There have been a couple of setbacks along the way - unexpectedly losing to Pafos in Europe and exiting the Coppa Italia to local rivals Empoli - but they warmed up for Sunday's clash by putting seven goals past LASK Linz to move fourth in the Conference League table.

That followed last week's much more closely contested 1-0 league win over Cagliari, which kept them within three points of top spot with one game in hand on most of their possible title rivals.

Bologna Serie A form:

W

W

W

L

W

D

Bologna form (all competitions):

L

L

W

W

D

D

Fiorentina Serie A form:

W

W

W

W

W

W

Fiorentina form (all competitions):

W

W

W

L

W

W

Team News

Bologna's top scorer Riccardo Orsolini heads a significant injury list for the hosts this weekend, as he joins Michel Aebischer, Juan Miranda and long-term absentees Nicolo Cambiaghi and Oussama El Azzouzi on the sidelines; Stefan Posch is doubtful due to a calf strain.

In better news for Vincenzo Italiano, Miranda's fellow left-back Charalampos Lykogiannis has rejoined full training after a muscular issue kept him out of the trip to Portugal.

After Thijs Dallinga fired another blank against Benfica, drawing post-match criticism from his manager, the Rossoblu's attack should be led by 20-year-old striker Santiago Castro, who has recently been linked with a move to the Premier League.

Ranked third in the league for successful passes this season, Remo Freuler should make his 250th Serie A appearance in central midfield.

Meanwhile, Fiorentina coach Raffaele Palladino went further than Italiano in terms of midweek rotation, so several familiar faces will now be recalled.

It remains to be seen whether Riccardo Sottil can keep his place after scoring twice on Thursday evening, but regular starters such as Dodo, Robin Gosens and David de Gea should all return.

The visitors have almost everyone available, with the sole exception being Edoardo Bove, who is still recovering after his cardiac arrest in the recent game against Inter, which was subsequently called off.

Bologna possible starting lineup:

Skorupski; Holm, Beukema, Lucumi, Lykogiannis; Freuler, Pobega; Ndoye, Odgaard, Dominguez; Castro

Fiorentina possible starting lineup:

De Gea; Dodo, Comuzzo, Ranieri, Gosens; Cataldi, Adli; Colpani, Beltran, Sottil; Kean

We say: Bologna 1-1 Fiorentina

Bologna can be stubborn opponents when required - conceding relatively few goals in the Champions League and rarely suffering defeat at the Dall'Ara - so they might finally stop Fiorentina's winning run.

Written by

Jonathan O'Shea

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