Bologna vs Juventus – Serie A – Preview

Posted on February 19, 2016 by Sreya

Juventus travel to Renato Dall’Ara to face Bologna on 19th February, Friday in their twenty-sixth Serie A fixture of the season. The Old Lady of Italian football have found their way to the top of the league standings after a disastrous start to their domestic season last year.

After their fifteenth consecutive win against Napoli which took their points tally to fifty seven, Allegri’s men are the favorites for the fifth Scudetto on the trot. Bologna, meanwhile, sit on the tenth position in the league table with thirty three points from ten wins and three draws. Both clubs are in fine forms – Bologna won 1-0 at Udinese after a surprise defeat to Frosinone and a draw against Fiorentina.

Team News

Luca Rossettini is the only injury concern for Roberto Donandini. First choice goalie Antonio Mirante should be back in the starting lineup after he missed the previous game due to an injury. Martin Caceres, Mario Mandzukic, Giorgio Chiellini and Alex Sandro will miss the game for Juventus through injuries while Leonardo Bonucci and Juan Cuadrado are listed as doubts.

Bologna Possible Starting Lineup: Antonio Mirante, Ibrahima Mbaye, Daniele Gastaldello, Domenico Maietta, Adam Masina, Saphir Taider, Amadou Diawara, Godfred Donsah, Anthony Mounier, Mattia Destro, Emanuele Giaccherini.

Juventus Possible Starting Lineup: Gianluigi Buffon, Stephan Lichsteiner, Andrea barzagli, Leonardo Bonucci, Patrice Evra, Roberto Pereyra, Claudio Marchisio, Sami Khedira, Paul Pogba, Paulo Dybala, Simone Zaza.

Thoughts From Both Camps

“It was hard to get the three points [in Udine]. The attitude is the right one but all the lads can and should grow. If we don’t do anything wrong, and we give 110 per cent, we’ll give Juventus a hard time as well.”

– Roberto Donadoni, Bologna.

“We can’t afford to risk thinking about the Champions League. We have to concentrate on the league because we’ve made a huge effort to reach first and it’ll take an even bigger one to stay there.”

– Claudio Marchisio, Juventus.

Contributor’s Pick

According to Head-2-Head statistics, the last six Serie A meetings between these two clubs have ended in five wins for Juventus and a solitary draw. The Turin-based club has also won all of the last five matches against Bologna in all competitions.

Having kept a clean sheet in their previous six Serie A games, Juventus have scored a minimum of two goals in their last eight away matches in the league. Allegri’s men are the clear favorites for this fixture and are likely to win by a scoreline of 2-0.