Bologna vs Cagliari prediction: ITALY: Serie A betting tips on match 2023-09-01 16:30.
The fixture generator could barely have handed Bologna a tougher start to the Serie A (SA) season, with matches against AC Milan and Juventus in their opening two rounds producing just one point (D1, L1). The draw at Juventus was actually a decent result but it could have been so much better, with a late equaliser denying them what could have been their first win at the Old Lady in many years. That result made it just two wins from the Rossoblù’slast 16 matches against last season’s top-seven, but coach Thiago Motta remained satisfied that his team “played an excellent match”.
Visitors Cagliari will be a welcome sight for Motta, as his side have won four of their last six matches against newly-promoted opposition. Bologna are also unbeaten in home league H2Hs since January 2010 (W7, D3), marking this out as a perfect opportunity to kickstart their campaign with a maiden victory.
Cagliari’s return to the top-flight has been far from ideal thus far, as like Bologna, they’ve registered just one point from their first two matches. A 2-0 defeat against Inter Milan gave his players “a real taste of Serie A” according to boss Claudio Ranieri, who’ll be looking to inspire his frontline here after they failed to net in the opening two rounds – they’ve not drawn a scoring blank in the first three matches of a SA campaign since 1979/80!
Avoiding that fate will require an improvement on the road where the Sardinians are winless in six SA matches (D3, L3), failing to score in four of those games. Their away form picked up last season after Ranieri’s appointment (W4, D6, L2), although the visitors will have to make quick adjustments to the increase in quality of opposition.
Key battle: Bologna’s young forward Joshua Zirkzee has seen his three matches in this campaign end with either a direct goal contribution or a booking (G1, A1, YC1). Halting him could be top of Alberto Dossena’s agenda, while the Cagliari defender won’t mind popping up on the scoresheet as he did with their opener in the Coppa Italia win this season.
Hot stat: Both teams have scored before half-time in just one of the last 23 SA H2Hs.