Bologna vs Udinese

Bluenergy Stadium is the venue as Udinese and Bologna go head-to-head in an exciting Serie A fixture.

A 2-0 defeat against Torino in midweek Serie A action extended Udinese’s losing streak to five matches – the longest ongoing streak in the division. Kosta Runjaic’s side ominously failed to score in four of those five games, casting doubt on their slim hopes of improving a dismal record of two victories from 17 encounters against teams starting this round above them in the table (D5, L10). Half of those ten losses came at the Bluenergy Stadium, where they’ve lost their last two outings against AC Milan and Hellas Verona without scoring. The Friulians are now at risk of suffering three consecutive home league defeats ‘to nil’ in the same season for the first time since April 2021. However, in addition to a 1-1 draw in this season’s reverse fixture, they’ve only lost once in their last nine home meetings with Bologna (W6, D2), suggesting not everything’s lost yet.

On the other hand, Bologna sneaked into the Serie A top four last weekend with a last-gasp 1-0 home win against reigning champions Inter Milan before sealing their first appearance in the Coppa Italia final in over 50 years with a 5-1 aggregate win against Empoli. Seeking back-to-back Champions League qualifications, Vincenzo Italiano’s men head into proceedings in high spirits, buoyed by an impressive run of just one loss from ten away matches against sides starting this matchday tenth or worse (W5, D4). Interestingly, six of those ten games saw them score precisely twice, which was also the case in their only road win against Udinese since May 2016. Yet, the visitors have been slow out of the blocks this season, netting the division’s joint-low two goals inside the first 15 minutes.