Coppa Italia winners Bologna head into the final Serie A gameweek against Genoa at Stadio Renato Dell'Ara on Saturday, aiming to avoid losing three consecutive top-flight matches.
The Emilians suffered back-to-back losses for the first time since 2023 after Sunday's defeat to Fiorentina, but they hope to snap that run against a visiting side without a victory since the start of April.
Match preview
© Imago
Having already secured Europa League participation after beating AC Milan in the Coppa Italia final, Bologna enter the concluding game of this season's Serie A campaign without the pressure of finishing in the top six.
Although three points separate Vincenzo Italiano's team from Lazio in sixth, the Emilia-Romagna outfit would have needed the capital club to lose on the final day and seventh-placed Fiorentina to drop points to end sixth.
However, the Emilians' victory over Milan last week in the domestic cup has secured them a Europa League spot for next season, meaning the Rossoblu are not under pressure to claim the points on offer this weekend.
Nevertheless, the Red and Blues aim to avoid a third consecutive league defeat after reverses to AC Milan (3-1) and Fiorentina (3-2), having not suffered as many losses since January 2022 when they fell to disappointments against Cagliari (2-1), Napoli (2-0) and Hellas Verona (2-1).
The home side's ambition is further fuelled by a desire to improve on a run of just one victory in 11 meetings against Genoa since February 2018's 2-0 win, which marked consecutive victories over the Grifone.
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The travelling fans will head to the Renato Dall'Ara aware of their five-match unbeaten run in Emilia-Romagna, where they have secured two wins and three draws in their previous five visits.
It will then be interesting to see if Patrick Vieira's team can show a different version of themselves to extend that admirable run against the Emilians, as they head into the final day having picked up two points in Serie A from an available 18, suffering four losses in that period.
Having failed to score in the draw with Verona and defeats to Lazio and in-form Como, the Grifone have been let down by an inability to keep games tight, as evidenced by their most recent losses to Milan (2-1) and Atalanta BC (3-2), against whom they led 1-0 and 2-1 respectively before facing disappointing defeats.
Keen to snap a six-match sequence without a win, Vieira's team, who are winless on their travels since beating Empoli 2-1 on December 28, look to extend Bologna's wait for maximum points whenever this fixture is held on their turf.
While the Emilians could still rise or fall in the standings, the outcome of Saturday's game has little consequence for Genoa, who are certain to finish in 13th place as 12th-placed Udinese are four points ahead, and as many points separate them from Cagliari in 14th.
Team News
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Juan Miranda is suspended for Bologna due to his sending-off against Fiorentina for violent conduct, while Jens Odgaard and Martin Erlic (calf) are expected to miss out due to injury.
Riccardo Orsolini has netted 14 Serie A goals heading into the final day, with the wide attacker scoring five match-winning strikes — only three players have netted more game-deciding efforts — and the winger aims to add to his decisive efforts this weekend.
Unlike Bologna, Genoa have several injury worries with Maxwel Cornet doubtful and Alan Matturro, Fabio Miretti, Honest Ahanor and Ruslan Malinovskyi all facing issues.
While Andrea Pinamonti leads the goalscoring charts for the away side, only four of his 10 goals have come away from home this term.
Bologna possible starting lineup:
Skorupski; Holm, Beukema, Lucumi, Lykogiannis; Ferguson, Freuler; Orsolini, Fabbian, Ndoye; Castro
Genoa possible starting lineup:
Siegrist; Sabelli, De Winter, Otoa, Martin; Norton-Cuffy, Frendrup, Masini, Thorsby; Vitinha, Pinamonti
We say: Bologna 1-1 Genoa
Despite the historical precedent of this fixture since 2018, Saturday's match is tricky to call as Bologna have little to play for after securing a Europa League place and Genoa are unable to rise or fall in the table.
Thus, a draw seems the most likely outcome when both sides with little riding on the events of the final day face off in Emilia-Romagna.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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