Belatedly playing their first game of the new year, Bologna will welcome Roma to Stadio Dall'Ara on Sunday evening.
After sitting out last week's Serie A action while their planned opponents were taking part in the Supercoppa Italiana, they now host a side buoyed by Rome derby success.
Match preview
© Imago
Ending an historic year on a rare low note, Bologna suffered a disappointing 3-2 home defeat to Hellas Verona in their final fixture of 2024.
Reduced to 10 men when Tommaso Pobega was sent off early in the second half, the Rossoblu still drew level via a second goal for rising star Benjamin Dominguez, but Santiago Castro's late own goal then cost them dearly.
Nonetheless, having qualified for the Champions League last season, they are within close range of Italy's top four this term - and with at least one game in hand on most of their rivals.
Such has been their steadfastness on home turf, the 15 minutes they spent trailing to Verona is the only time the Emilian club have fallen behind at Stadio Dall'Ara in Serie A.
As hosts, Bologna have not succumbed to consecutive top-flight defeats since January 2022; while, home or away, it has been two years since they lost back-to-back league games.
They will therefore expect to get straight back on track this weekend, by ending a winless run in year-opening fixtures. Since 2016, the Rossoblu have posted four draws and four defeats, including a reverse to Roma two years ago.
© Imago
Roma will head for Emilia-Romagna burdened by a recent record of three straight defeats to Bologna, with an aggregate score of 8-3 in their hosts' favour - they last lost four on the spin back in the 1960s.
Yet, the Giallorossi signed off a dismal 2024 by thrashing Parma and then holding AC Milan at San Siro, before starting 2025 with victory in the Derby della Capitale.
Having trailed Lazio by 15 points in the standings, Roma reduced that deficit with a 2-0 win over their city rivals, as captain Lorenzo Pellegrini repaid Claudio Ranieri's faith by scoring the opener on his recall to the starting XI and Alexis Saelemaekers soon doubled their advantage.
After a messy end to the contest, with plenty of pushing and shoving, they were able to celebrate a crowd-pleasing success that kept them just inside the top half of the table.
Roma have now won three of their last five league games - as many as throughout the previous 15 - and it seems they have turned a corner under interim coach Ranieri, who will move into a director role at the end of this season.
Now, they aim to post successive league wins for the first time since September, in addition to halting a 12-match drought without an away victory in Serie A - their worst such streak this century.
Team News
© Imago
After a rare week of rest amid domestic and European commitments, Vincenzo Italiano might name his strongest available team on Sunday evening - though Bologna must play a catch-up fixture with Inter Milan on Wednesday.
Tommaso Pobega is sidelined by suspension, so either Lewis Ferguson or Nikola Moro should slot in alongside Remo Freuler in the Rossoblu's engine room.
Long-term absentees Oussama El Azzouzi and Nicolo Cambiaghi have both returned to training, but like Swiss midfielder Michel Aebischer, neither is ready for duty just yet.
Set to form part of the supporting cast for top scorer Santiago Castro, Italy winger Riccardo Orsolini has been directly involved in six goals in his last eight league appearances.
Meanwhile, Roma's star man Paulo Dybala has registered seven Serie A strikes against Bologna to date, and he appears to be back to somewhere near his best. 'La Joya' has played a part in four goals across his last three league games - as many as in the previous 19.
While Enzo Le Fee has departed on loan to Sunderland, Claudio Ranieri can call upon an almost full squad this weekend, as Zeki Celik has overcome an illness; only Bryan Cristante is ruled out by an ankle problem.
Ranieri could therefore keep faith with the lineup that started against Lazio, featuring Dybala and Artem Dovbyk up front.
Bologna possible starting lineup:
Skorupski; Holm, Beukema, Lucumi, Lykogiannis; Freuler, Ferguson; Orsolini, Odgaard, Ndoye; Castro
Roma possible starting lineup:
Svilar; Mancini, Hummels, Ndicka; Saelemaekers, Kone, Paredes, Pellegrini, Angelino; Dybala, Dovbyk
We say: Bologna 1-1 Roma
This clash will put Roma's newfound resilience to the test, as Bologna are usually tough to beat at the Dall'Ara.
The hosts have a five-point lead over their capital-city counterparts - with two games in hand - and they can preserve that healthy advantage with a low-scoring draw.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Jonathan O'Shea
