Sassuolo vs Bologna prediction: ITALY: Serie A betting tips on match 2023-10-27 13:00.
Since securing back-to-back victories over Juventus and Inter Milan, Sassuolo have seen their season take a turn for the worse. A 2-0 defeat to Lazio extended their winless run to three matches (D1, L2) and left them just four points clear of the drop zone ahead of this round. Fear of slipping even further perhaps stems from the fact they’ve already lost five Serie A (SA) matches this term, only once suffering more defeats at this stage of an SA campaign.
Alessio Dionisi’s men have struggled to make home advantage count of late, losing back-to-back matches at the Mapei Stadium ‘to nil’. Not since November 2017 have they lost three consecutive SA home matches without scoring, but avoiding such a fate looks challenging against Bologna given the Neroverdi’s lacklustre H2H record, winning just two of the nine previous meetings they’ve hosted (D3, L4).
They face a Bologna side in the midst of an eight-match unbeaten run (W3, D5), the longest such active streak in SA, buoyed by a 2-1 victory over newly-promoted Frosinone last weekend. You have to go back to January 2009 to find the last time the Rossoblu went this long without defeat in league action, so Thiago Motta’s men should be full of confidence as they pursue a victory that could move them level on points with the top-four.
The last time Bologna finished a SA season inside the top-four was way back in 1966/67, but if they’re to achieve that feat again, maintaining their solid defence looks essential as Motta’s men have conceded just seven times in SA this term – a record bettered only by Inter and Juventus. That backline will hope to support another stubborn away performance, not least because Bologna have drawn all four of their SA away matches this term, two of which were accompanied by a clean sheet.
Players to watch: Andrea Pinamonti’s two home goals this season have come in Sassuolo wins and positively for the hosts, his two H2H career goals have come in victories for his side of the day. Bologna will hope that their counter threat comes from Lewis Ferguson, who directly contributed to goals in his last three SA games (G1, A2) and also scored in their 3-0 H2H win last season.
Hot stat: Ahead of this round, Sassuolo’s SA games averaged a league-high 11.8 corners per game.