Bologna vs AC Milan Preview & Prediction | 2024-25 Italian Serie A
Click here for today’s sports betting tips from our expert analysts!
We have a bit of a derby in the northern part of Italy as Vincenzo Italiano’s Bologna, who are struggling, face Paulo Fonseca’s AC Milan after the two sides played in the UEFA Champions League in midweek.
KICK-OFF DATE/TIME: Saturday 26th October, 2024 - UK – 5:30pm / US ET – 12:30pm / US PT – 9:30am
HOW TO WATCH ON TV: UK – Not televised / US – Select matches will be televised on CBS Sports so it is worth checking their schedule
HOW TO WATCH ONLINE: UK – OneFootball / US – Paramount+
BOLOGNA PREVIEW: FRUSTRATED BOLOGNA
Over the summer, Bologna lost manager Thiago Motta to Juventus after he had led Bologna to the UEFA Champions League. He was replaced by Vincenzo Italiano but they have struggled at the start of this season following the departures of Riccardo Calafiori and Joshua Zirkzee to Arsenal and Manchester United respectively.
The home team come into this one on the back of a 2-0 defeat away to Aston Villa in their most recent outing in the UEFA Champions League in midweek. The hosts have managed just one victory in their opening 11 matches across all competitions with six draws in their eight Serie A matches so far this season.
AC MILAN PREVIEW: MILAN TRYING TO PUSH
Former Lille, Roma and Shakhtar Donetsk manager Paulo Fonseca replaced 2021/22 Serie A winner Stefano Pioli over the summer with the Rossoneri beginning to evolve with an extremely deep and impressive squad. The visitors started the campaign very slowly but have begun to turn the corner in the last month or so.
In their most recent outing, AC Milan edged past Udinese by a goal to nil at San Siro last weekend with Samu Chukwueze opened the scoring after 13 minutes before Tijjani Reijnders was then sent off 16 minutes later. Since the September international break, they have managed five victories with three defeats in eight matches across all competitions.
BOLOGNA TEAM NEWS: FERGUSON EDGING TOWARDS FULL FITNESS
Scotland international Lewis Ferguson has been unavailable for quite some time due to an ACL injury but he is inching towards full fitness against AC Milan this weekend.
Other than Ferguson, Bologna do have a couple of injury absentees as defender Martin Erlic is suffering from a hamstring injury with Michel Aebischer also sidelined.
PREDICTED XI (4-2-3-1): Ravaglia; Posch, Beukema, Casale, Juan Miranda; Moro, Freuler; Orsolini, Odgaard, Dominguez; Castro
UNAVAILABLE: Erlic (Injured), Aebischer (Injured)
QUESTIONABLE: El Azzouzi (Injured), Ferguson (Injured)
AC MILAN TEAM NEWS: KEY ABSENTEES
AC Milan have a few key absentees for this weekend’s clash with Bologna and they have a couple of suspensions including Theo Hernandez and Tijjani Reijnders.
As well as the suspended duo, Milan also have a few key injury issues as the likes of Davide Calabria, Ismael Bennacer, Alessandro Florenzi and Tammy Abraham are sidelined.
PREDICTED XI (4-2-3-1): Maignan; Emerson Royal, Thiaw, Pavlovic, Terracciano; Fofana, Loftus-Cheek; Chukwueze, Pulisic, Leao; Alvaro Morata
UNAVAILABLE: Calabria (Injured), Hernandez (Suspended), Florenzi (Injured), Bennacer (Injured), Reijnders (Suspended), Abraham (Injured)
QUESTIONABLE:
BOLOGNA VS AC MILAN PREDICTION
Only Juventus, who are unbeaten, have lost fewer matches than Bologna so far this season, whilst no team has won fewer than them either. It has been a bizarre and frustrating start to the campaign for Vincenzo Italiano and his Bologna side. They now face an AC Milan side that have begun to find some sort of groove and their 3-1 win over Club Brugge in midweek has helped that. A double chance bet in favour of the away team would appear good value for this one.
BOLOGNA VS AC MILAN TIP: DOUBLE CHANCE – AC MILAN TO WIN OR DRAW
