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It has been an underwhelming start to the season for Monza following the departure of Raffaele Palladino. They now face a Bologna side that, under the management of Vincenzo Italiano, are struggling to adapt at the start of this season.
KICK-OFF DATE/TIME: Sunday 22nd September, 2024 - UK – 2:00pm / US ET – 9:00am / US PT – 6:00am
HOW TO WATCH ON TV: UK – TNT Sports OR Not televised / US – Select matches will be televised on CBS Sports so it is worth checking their schedule
HOW TO WATCH ONLINE: UK – discovery+ OR Cannot be streamed / US – Paramount+
MONZA PREVIEW: MAKING THE BEST OF IT
In each of the last couple of seasons, ever since gaining promotion to the top-flight for the first time ever in 2022, Monza have been ambitious and have been looking at a potential top seven finish and UEFA qualification but they have lost their manager over the summer to Fiorentina with Raffaele Palladino replaced by AC Milan legend Alessandro Nesta.
The famous centre-back has endured a mixed managerial career and was last seen doing a fairly average job at Reggiana in Serie B last season. Monza come into this one on the back of an impressive 1-1 draw at home to defending champions Internazionale in their most recent outing last weekend but remain winless.
BOLOGNA PREVIEW: UNDERPERFORMING BOLOGNA
Last season, Thiago Motta led Bologna to an impressive fifth placed finish and their first qualification for the UEFA Champions League in over 60 years. However, he departed over the summer alongside the likes or Riccardo Calafiori to Arsenal and Joshua Zirkzee to Manchester United.
The visitors come into this on the back of their first game of the UEFA Champions League season as they shared a goalless draw with Ukrainian Premier League champions Shakhtar Donetsk. That, as well as their 2-2 draw with newly-promoted Como last weekend, means they remain winless after five matches across all competitions,
MONZA TEAM NEWS: A FEW ISSUES
There are quite a few issues for Monza to deal with ahead of this weekend as they have quite a few experienced players unavailable for this week’s visit of Bologna.
For example, Patrick Ciurria remains sidelined alongside the likes of Samuele Vignato and Roberto Gagliardini with Alessio Cragno also still a doubt for this one.
PREDICTED XI (3-4-2-1): Turati; Izzo, Pablo Mari, Carboni; Pedro Pereira, Pessina, Bondo, Kyriakopoulos; Maldini, Caprari; Djuric
UNAVAILABLE: Ciurria (Injured), Vignato (Injured), Gagliardini (Injured)
QUESTIONABLE: Cragno (Injured), Birindelli (Injured)
BOLOGNA TEAM NEWS: MOULDING THE NEW BOLOGNA
As well as those aforementioned departures, Bologna have been dealing with injuries throughout the season but the likes of Jhon Lucumi and Dan Ndoye are fully fit and available.
The visitors do still have a couple of absentees in midfield, though, with Oussama El Azzouzi sidelined alongside Scotland international and key man Lewis Ferguson.
PREDICTED XI (4-1-4-1): Skorupski; Posch, Beukema, Casale, Juan Miranda; Freuler; Orsolini, Aebischer, Pobega, Odgaard; Dallinga
UNAVAILABLE: Ferguson (Injured), El Azzouzi (Injured)
QUESTIONABLE:
MONZA VS BOLOGNA PREDICTION
What is clear about Monza’s style of football so far this season is that they are attempting to play in the image of former AC Milan defender Alessandro Nesta and that is quite defensively. Bologna have not got anywhere near to the rhythm that they had last year and have struggled for any sort of fluency. A double chance bet in favour of Bologna may well be good value but, regardless of the outcome, it is expected to be a low-scoring encounter.
MONZA VS BOLOGNA TIP: UNDER 2.5 GOALS