Sunday's Serie A action includes a mid-table clash between two out-of-form sides in the form of Bologna and Empoli at the Renato Dall'Ara Stadium.
The hosts have lost six of their last seven outings, whilst the visitors are winless in seven games across all competitions.
Match preview
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Bologna return from the international break in Italy hoping to halt their losing streak of late, having lost three consecutive games, as well as six of their last seven as mentioned above.
That poor run of form leaves Sinisa Mihajlovic's side down in 13th ahead of the weekend action, 10 points above the drop zone and 11 points off the European places.
Prior to their disappointing results of late, I Rossoblu looked set to make an unlikely challenge for the top six in the latter half of the season, but as things stand, a comfortable mid-table finish looks to be the likely outcome come May once more.
However, the experienced boss will be all too aware of the dangers of his side potentially taking their foot off the gas in the coming weeks, as if their struggles continue for the next few games as well, Sunday's hosts could easily find themselves getting dragged into a relegation battle after all.
With just one win in their last eight meetings with their opponents though, Bologna may well have to wait another week to return to winning ways.
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Meanwhile, the visitors head to the Renato Dall'Ara Stadium just one place and two points above their opponents, meaning their situation of a possible comfortable mid-table finish is all too similar.
Unlike their hosts though, Empoli only returned to the top flight from Serie B this season, so it continues to be a successful campaign under Aurelio Andreazzoli as things stand.
Gli Azzurri have currently hit their first serious bad patch of form all season however, having failed to win any of their last seven games across all competitions, as previously mentioned.
As has been the case for the majority of the campaign, scoring goals has not been the issue for Andreazzoli's side, with Empoli netting 12 games during their winless spell.
However, a leaky defence has continued to hamper their progress, and has cost Sunday's visitors numerous points in recent weeks, having conceded a disappointing 21 times during the same period.
As a result, Empoli possess the second-worst defence across the entire division, despite their league position, so should the goals dry up at the attacking end of the pitch, the newly-promoted side could well be dragged into an unwanted relegation battle in the coming weeks, just like their hosts.
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Team News
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Bologna's 19-year-old full-back Aaron Hickey will be unavailable for the hosts on Sunday, with the Scot serving a one-match suspension for an accumulation of yellow cards.
Wisdom Amey, Kacper Urbanski and Federico Santander are doubtful following positive COVID-19 test results, whilst Ibrahima Mbaye remains unavailable due to his international commitments with Senegal at the Africa Cup of Nations.
Musa Barrow has been a big miss to the forward line during his participation at the tournament with Gambia, but he is back available and should slot back into the starting 11 immediately.
As for the visitors, Riccardo Marchizza will be absent from their back line following his serious knee injury, and fellow defender Sebastiano Luperto faces a race against time to prove his fitness following a muscle injury.
Nicolas Haas will definitely sit out, but Valerio Verre and Federico Di Francesco could return following spells on the sidelines.
On-loan Wolverhampton Wanderers striker Patrick Cutrone is an option to join Andrea Pinamonti in attack.
Bologna possible starting lineup:
Skorupski; Bonifazi, Medel, Soumaoro; De Silvestri, Soriano, Dominguez, Svanberg, Theate; Arnautovic, Barrow
Empoli possible starting lineup:
Vicario; Fiamozzi, Ismajli, Tonelli, Viti; Zurkowski, Ricci, Bandinelli; Bajrami; Pinamonti, Cutrone
We say: Bologna 2-1 Empoli
Due to the leaky defences of both sides, as well as their relatively prolific nature in front of goal, this should be an entertaining encounter on Sunday.
We believe Bologna will possess enough quality to end their losing streak against a fellow out-of-form side though, with home advantage and the return of Barrow proving decisive.
Top tip
Matthew Tranter
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 43.4%. A win for Empoli had a probability of 33.05% and a draw had a probability of 23.5%.
The most likely scoreline for a Bologna win was 2-1 with a probability of 8.97%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-0 (7.38%) and 2-0 (6.21%). The likeliest Empoli win was 1-2 (7.69%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (10.65%). The actual scoreline of 0-0 was predicted with a 4.4% likelihood.
