Como vs Bologna Preview & Prediction | 2024-25 Italian Serie A
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Como came into the season with a lot of fan fare and expectation after their summer business but it has been a tricky start for the hosts as they now welcome a Bologna side that are trying to deal with a rebuild over the summer.
KICK-OFF DATE/TIME: Sunday 14th September, 2024 - UK – 2:00pm / US ET – 9:00am / US PT – 6:00am
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+
COMO PREVIEW: CESC’S COMO
Last season, Cesc Fabregas was not officially the coach of Como with Oisin Roberts in charge whilst the former Spain man finished his coaching badges. Now they are complete is the manager of a Como side that have brought in some big names over the summer such as Pepe Reina, Raphael Varane, Alberto Moreno, Sergi Roberto and Andrea Belotti.
The hosts have begun their return to Serie A, which is the first time in around 70 years, quite badly. In their opening game they were hammered 3-0 by Juventus in Turin before a 1-1 draw against Cagliari before heading into the international break on the back of a slender 1-0 defeat to Udinese in Friuli.
BOLOGNA PREVIEW: BOLOGNA BLOWN TO BITS
Last season, Bologna achieved UEFA Champions League qualification for the first time in 60 years under the management of Thiago Motta with a fifth placed finish. However, Motta has now departed for Juventus and some key players, such as Riccardo Calafiori and Joshua Zirkzee, have also left the club this summer.
Vincenzo Italiano has a job on his hands to rebuild Bologna. They endured a difficult start to the season prior to the September international break. They have collected two points from their opening three matches with underwhelming 1-1 draws at home to Udinese and Empoli sandwiching a 3-0 hammering at the hands of Napoli in Naples.
COMO TEAM NEWS: STILL NO VARANE
Former Manchester United and Real Madrid defender Raphael Varane arrived in Como this summer but almost immediately suffered a knee injury that means he remains absent.
Como made 21 signings over the summer so could have some home debuts to hand out to the likes of Marc Oliver Kempf and Ignace Van der Brempt, who joined just before the deadline.
PREDICTED XI (4-2-2-2): Pepe Reina; Iovine, Dossena, Kempf, Alberto Moreno; Mazzitelli, Maximo Perrone; Strefezza, Da Cunha; Belotti, Cutrone
UNAVAILABLE: Varane (Injured)
QUESTIONABLE: Baselli (Injured), Abildgaard (Injured)
BOLOGNA TEAM NEWS: NO NDOYE
As well as the departures of some key players, Bologna are also without some key injured players, too, such as Lewis Ferguson and Swiss international Dan Ndoye.
Vincenzo Italiano plays a similar system to Thiago Motta but perhaps a little less sophisticated and that has led to a general lack of cohesion in midfield at the start of this season.
PREDICTED XI (4-3-3): Skorupski; Posch, Beukema, Jhon Lucumi, Juan Miranda; Fabbian, Freuler, Moro; Orsolini, Castro, Karlsson
UNAVAILABLE: El Azzouzi (Injured), Ferguson (Injured), Ndoye (Injured)
QUESTIONABLE: Erlic (Injured)
COMO VS BOLOGNA PREDICTION
Cesc Fabregas, as one might expect, has intentions of playing a progressive and quite modern passing style of football, albeit in a more unconventional, for that style, 4-4-2 or 4-2-2-2 system. That means they play quite controlled football and now come up against a Bologna side beginning their UEFA Champions League campaign this weekend so potentially distracted and already showing a lack of fluency. As a result, this may not be a thriller for the neutral by the lake.
COMO VS BOLOGNA TIP: UNDER 2.5 GOALS
