Juventus vs Bologna

Serie A top-four hopefuls Juventus will be looking to stay on the upwards trajectory when they take on bottom-half Bologna at the Allianz Stadium.

Juventus’ come-from-behind 2-1 win away to Cagliari last time out has kept them firmly in the Serie A top-four picture, making it five victories from six league matches (L1). However, a lack of scoring prowess continues to torment ‘I Bianconeri’ despite Dusan Vlahovic’s blockbuster arrival from Fiorentina in the winter as no side from the upper half of the Serie A table have scored fewer goals than Juve (49) so far. The record-time Italian champions will feel confident about improving that record here, having won their last 11 Serie A meetings with Bologna, netting an average of 2.36 goals per game. Indeed, Juventus are enjoying an eight-game winning home league streak against this opposition and they scored 2+ goals in each triumph during that sequence.

In the meantime, Bologna eked out a 2-0 home victory over bottom-half Sampdoria last time out, halting a run of five Serie A matches without winning (D3, L2). More importantly, ‘I Rossoblu’ bagged two goals last weekend, one more than they had in their five previous outings in the competition. A shutout of Sampdoria marked Bologna’s 11 Serie A clean sheet at this stage of the season for the first time since 2010/11. Sinisa Mihajlovic’s men would have to keep things tight at the back if they were to stage an upset and arrest a run of six away league fixtures without a victory (D2, L4). Indeed, a lack of ruthlessness in front of goal has seen Bologna fail to hit the net in three of their last four Serie A games on the road.