Bologna host Genoa in Serie A on Wednesday, with the visitors looking to seal their top-flight survival for a 14th successive season.
The hosts, meanwhile, are chasing a top-half finish, with 10th-placed Hellas Verona three points ahead of them in the table.
Match preview
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Bologna have only finished in the top half of Serie A once in the previous eight seasons, which was after Sinisa Mihajlovic was appointed for his second spell as manager at the club in January 2019, and subsequently achieved a return of 30 points from 17 games to guide them away from danger and into 10th spot.
A similar finish looked to be firmly on the cards this campaign, but only one win in their last seven matches has seen Mihajlovic's side gradually slide down the table, although Sampdoria and Verona remain catchable inside the top half.
Riccardo Orsolini, who was Bologna's top goalscorer in the previous two seasons, converted a late penalty to salvage a point at Udinese on Saturday after Rodrigo De Paul had opened the scoring for the hosts in the 23rd minute.
A win against Genoa on Wednesday would keep I Rossoblu firmly in the mix for a top-half finish, then, especially given that they head to Verona next Monday.
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Genoa, meanwhile, have not yet secured their Serie A safety, but Davide Ballardini's side do have a five-point cushion ahead of 18th-placed Benevento, who have lost five of their last six matches and appear to be in freefall.
Wednesday's trip to Bologna represents an excellent opportunity to preserve their top-flight status, with a win enough to do so providing Benevento fail to beat in-form Atalanta as expected.
Ballardini's side have certainly not been short of scoring goals in recent weeks, having not failed to do since a 1-0 defeat to Roma on March 7. However, defensively they have been leaky, conceding four to Lazio and two at home to Sassuolo in recent weeks.
Indeed, former Chelsea man Davide Zappacosta's 85th-minute strike on Sunday proved to be no more than a consolation goal after Giacomo Raspadori and Domenico Berardi had provided the visitors with a comfortable two-goal cushion. Ballardini will be hoping his side can keep it much tighter in Bologna on Wednesday.
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Team News
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Bologna are likely to remain without Nicolas Dominguez, Aaron Hickey, Federico Santander and former Inter Milan midfielder Gary Medel due to injury.
After scoring his sixth league goal of the season, Orsolini will be hoping for a start in attack having only been used from the substitutes' bench in recent weeks.
Genoa, meanwhile, appear to be unable to call upon the services of Domenico Criscito, Luca Pellegrini and Davide Biraschi due to injury.
Given his age, 37-year-old Goran Pandev is unlikely to start two matches in the space of four days, with Gianluca Scamacca hoping for a start in attack.
Bologna possible starting lineup:
Skorupski; Tomiyasu, Danilo, Soumaoro, Dijks; Schouten, Soriano; Olsen, Vignato, Barrow; Palacio
Genoa possible starting lineup:
Perin; Goldaniga, Zapata, Masiello; Ghiglione, Behrami, Badelj, Zajc, Zappacosta; Scamacca, Destro
We say: Bologna 2-1 Genoa
We can envisage Bologna moving closer to the top half with a narrow win on Wednesday.
It is likely to be an open, entertaining affair, with both sides capable of scoring and conceding goals in the blink of an eye.
Top tip
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Bologna win with a probability of 53.18%. A win for Genoa had a probability of 23.5% and a draw had a probability of 23.3%.
The most likely scoreline for a Bologna win was 1-0 with a probability of 9.97%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (9.78%) and 2-0 (8.86%). The likeliest Genoa win was 0-1 (6.18%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (10.99%). The actual scoreline of 0-2 was predicted with a 3.4% likelihood.
