Bologna vs Sassuolo Prediction and Preview – 29/08/15
Serie A preview – Bologna vs Sassuolo Prediction
Sassuolo got off to a flying start in Serie A last weekend by coming from behind to beat the strong team of Napoli and now have a chance to top the league for a day, if they avoid the defeat against Bologna. On the other side, Bologna started the campaign with 2:1 loss against Lazio in Rome.
The two sides have met each other just twice previously in Serie A competition. Those meetings came in season 2013/2014 and saw a 0-0 draw in Emilia-Romagna in March, Sassuolo having won 2-1 at the Stadio Mapei earlier in the campaign.
Possible Line-ups
Bologna: 4-3-1-2 formation: Mirante; Mbaye, Oikonomou, Rossetini, Masina; Donsah, Crisetig, Brighi; Brienza; Destro, Mancosu
Sassuolo: 4-3-3 formation: Consigli; Vrsaljko, Cannavaro, Acerbi, Peluso; Missiroli, Magnanelli, Duncan; Floro Flores, Defrel, Sansone
- Bologna have won 4, drawn 2 and lost 4 of their last 10 matches
- Sassuolo have won 8, drawn 2 of their last 10 matches
- Over the course of their previous 10 matches, Bologna have scored an average of 1.4 goals and conceded an average of 1 goals per game
- Over the course of their previous 10 matches, Sassuolo have scored an average of 2.1 goals and conceded an average of 0.8 goals per game
- There have been over 2.5 goals scored in 5 of Bologna’s previous 10 matches
- There have been over 2.5 goals scored in 5 of Sassuolo’s previous 10 matches
Last weekend Sassuolo lost its striker and star player Domenico Berardi after he left the pitch with a thigh injury. It will keep the Italian Under-21 international out for several weeks. It is expected Nicola Sansone, who scored the game winning goal against Napoli to start in his place.
With Matteo Mancosu having scored the only goal for Bologna in the first game of the season, Destro would likely take the place of Robert Acquafresca who has not scored a Serie A goal since May 2012, some 1200 days ago, before Sassuolo had played in the top division.
Delio Rossi will welcome Ibrahima Mbaye back from suspension. Franco Zuculini, Daniele Gastadello and Luca Rizzo, however, are all likely to sit out the match with injuries, while Emil Krafth is unlikely to make his debut because of injury.
Sassuolo were without Luca Antei for their win against Napoli, but only Berardi has been added to the injury list since, meaning Di Francesco has a relatively full squad from which to select his side.
We say: Both teams to score at 5/6 with Bet365
What are your predictions?