Roma on Saturday night in Serie A at the Stadio Dall’Ara, with both teams looking for their third consecutive win.
Since Roberto Donadoni took over from Delio Rossi, Bologna has won two games in a row, lifting themselves out of the drop zone. Roma, on the other hand, have just won the derby, and a victory on Saturday would see them move to the top of Serie a for at least one night.
The Rossoblu are coming out of a terrible start to the season, totalling eight losses, but have won three of the last four games and have scored five goals without conceding in their last two, putting them in the 16th spot of the table.
The Giallorossi, on the other hand, sit currently in third place with 26 points, thanks to eight victories, the last of which was the 2-0 in the Derby della Capitale against Lazio. Before that, though, Roma lost to Inter at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, so this will be a good chance to test their consistency.
Since 2010, Bologna and Roma have met eight times, with the Giallorossi winning four and the Rossoblu only once in the 2012-2013 season.
Last season did not see the two teams play each other, as Bologna were in Serie B, but the last encounter between the two sides ended with a 5-0 win for Roma.
That is a result that is unlikely to happen again, as Bologna have not conceded in two games and Donadoni will be able to play his preferred back four.
Bologna have all players available apart from Franco Zuculini. Mattia Destro will be in doubt until the very end, as he hasn’t trained for a week after picking up an ankle injury, but should ultimately be able to play. It will be a special game for the former Roma striker.
On the other hand, the problems for Rudi Garcia are up front, as the French coach will not be able to count on Mohamed Salah and Gervinho, as well as Francesco Totti, who has been out for over a month already.
Form Guide: Bologna (L-W-L-W-W) Roma (W-W-L-W-W)
Expected Starting XIs:
Bologna: Mirante, Rossettini, Maietta, Gastaldello, Masini, Donsah, Diawara, Brienza, Rizzo, Destro, Giaccherini
Roma: Szczesny, Florenzi, Manolas, Rudiger, Digne, Pjanic, De Rossi, Nainggolan, Iturbe, Dzeko, Falque
Infographic from www.sporticos.com
