Monza and Bologna will square up this Monday in the round fixture of the 2022/23 Serie A season.
Venue: Brianteo (Monza)
Key Statistics
Monza are unbeaten against any side starting this round in the bottom eight (W2, D1).
They have kept two clean sheets in their last two games at home.
The hosts have failed to score only once in their last seven competitive games.
Bologna have kept two clean sheets in their last two games.
Only Spezia (zero) have picked up fewer SA away league points than Bologna (one) coming into the round.
Bologna’s Marko Arnautović has scored in five of his seven SA games against newly promoted sides, including in each of his three away fixtures.
Head to head
This will be the first meeting between both sides in Serie A.
Latest performances in all competitions
Monza: L-W-L-W-W
Bologna: W-W-D-L-D
Monza
Monza will take on Bologna as they continue their fine start to the Serie A season since gaining promotion last season.
Raffaele Palladino’s side have taken Serie A by storm and look set to retain a spot in the Italian top-flight come next season.
I Biancorossi picked up back-to-back victories in early October, which took them out of the relegation zones in the Serie A table. But have since then lost three games on the bounce and now sit in 15th place, four points away from 18th-placed Sampdoria.
Monza come into this game, having suffered their seventh defeat of the season against AC Milan last weekend. A Brahim Diaz brace inside the first half established a comfortable lead for Milan, who went on to add two more goals through Divock Origi and Rafael Leao. Filippo Rannochia got the consolation goal for the home side in what was a comfortable win for Stefano Pioli’s side.
Raffaele Palladino will be keen to see his side end the month in the same way they started it, as they look to cement their spot in the Italian top flight for next season.
Despite their loss to AC Milan, the Italian coach will be pleased with his team’s performance who had the larger share of the possession, with the gulf in quality coming to be the deciding factor in the game.
With that in mind, Raffaele Palladino will fancy his team’s chances against Bologna in what will be the first encounter between both teams who sit level on points in the Serie A table.
Possible Monza starting line-up
Michele Di Gregorio; Marlon, Valentin Antov, Luca Caldirola; Patrick Ciurria, Andrea Barberis, Stefano Sensi, Carlos Augusto; Matteo Pessina, Gianluca Caprari; Danny Mota.
Injured: Pablo Mari
Doubtful: Andrea Ranocchia
Suspended: None
Bologna
Bologna on the other hand secured their second win of the season last weekend when they defeated Lecce.
Marko Arnautovic continued his rich vein of form and opened the scoring for Thiago Motta’s side from the penalty spot. Lewis Ferguson doubled the lead 21 minutes later to send Bologna into 13th in the Serie A table.
Bologna will now look to make it three consecutive victories, following their win over Cagliari in the Coppa Italia and the win over Leece when they take on Monza. But with the newcomers playing like seasoned pros in the division, Thiago Motta’s side will have to dig deep to secure another win as they continue their slow march up the Serie A table.
Following the sacking of Sinisa Mihajlovic and the brief stint of Luca Viagni, Thiago Motta has had an impressive start to his tenure at Bologna since his appointment, with two wins and one draw in his first three matches in charge.
However, with both wins coming at home, and the loss away from home. The Italian will therefore be keen to see his side break their away jinx and secure another win when they take on Raffaele Palladino’s side.
Possible Bologna starting line-up
Lukasz Skorupski; Stefan Posch, Kevin Bonifazi, Jhon Lucumí, Andrea Cambiaso; Gary Medel, Lewis Ferguson; Michel Aebischer, Nicolas Dominguez, Musa Barrow; Marko Arnautovic.
Injured: Denso Kasius, Kevin Bonifazi,
Doubtful: Jerdy Schouten
Suspended: None
Odds
Monza to win | Draw | Bologna to win | |
Odds | 2.15 | 3.40 | 3.40 |
Probability (%) | 44 | 28 | 28 |
Prediction
Monza 2-1 Bologna