On Friday evening, Hellas Verona plays host to Bologna, hoping for a victory that will keep them in the top half of the Serie A standings with kickoff at 10:45 pm.
In addition, Hellas Verona has a three-point lead over 12th-placed Bologna. Verona has lost five of its last six matches in the Italian league.
Igor Tudor certainly has not had things go his way since arriving at Stadio Marc’Antonio Bentegodi as a manager in September—the Croatian overseeing three successive defeats in all competitions just before Christmas break.
Despite this, Verona is the sixth-best performing side in Serie A over the past 19 fixtures, collecting 30 points during that period.
Their latest impressive victory came last weekend as they outlasted Sassuolo in a six-goal thriller. Striker Antonin Barak completed his hat-trick in the final minute to claim his team’s 4-2 victory.
Back in the day, Bologna had the same promise and optimism that Verona is experiencing since they were never far behind the same group of clubs at the top of Serie A.
However, despite having collected three points from 18 possible and being on the brink of losing touch with their rivals, the mood is still upbeat at Renato Dall’Ara Stadium.
Sinisa Mihajlovic will be pleased to note that Lazio is the only big club awaiting his team in their next six games.
Hellas Verona vs. Bologna Head to Head
Both sides have 16 games against each other, with hosts taking 3 wins while opponents with 9 wins. Here is a look at their previous encounters:
Home
- Sassuolo 2-4 Hellas Verona
- Hellas Verona 1-2 Salernitana
- Spezia 1-2 Hellas Verona
- Hellas Fiorentina 1-1 Fiorentina
- Torino 1-0 Hellas Verona
Away
- Bologna 0-2 Napoli
- Cagliari 1-2 Bologna
- Sassuolo 0-3 Bologna
- Bologna 0-2 Juventus
- Torino 2-1 Bologna
Hellas Verona Team News
Verona will call upon midfielder Ivan Ilic, who played against Sampdoria after serving a one-match ban for his red-carded performance against Salernitana.
The Serbian may replace Adrien Tameze in the centre of the pitch, but the remainder of the team could remain the same, with Nikola Kalinic on the substitutes’ bench.
Bologna Team News
Mihajlovic may recall Kevin Bonifazi and Nicolo Dominguez to the Bolonga XI. Musa Barrow and Ibrahima Mbaye are both away at the Africa Cup of Nations. Arnautovic could get another chance to rediscover his earlier goalscoring form.
Prediction and Odds
Although the form of one team is much better than the other, we cannot predict a winner with any great certainty.
- Hellas Verona Win
- Both Teams to Score
- Goals Over 2.5
