Napoli vs Bologna Match Analysis and Prediction

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Following another impressive display in Europa, Serie A leaders Napoli will be looking to extend their superb start to the season on Sunday when they play host to Bologna at Stadio Diego Armando Maradona.

Still unbeaten this season, Napoli are now being considered as genuine Scudetto contenders, and perharps even candidates to reach the Champions League’s latter stages.

After beating Liverpool and Rangers, Luciano Spalletti’s side completed a comprehensive double over their remaining Group A rivals on Wednesday, when they raced into a two-goal lead within 20 minutes and went on to defeat Ajax 4-2.

Facing the promoted Cremonense in Serie A last week, Gli Azzurri dealt out more destruction by scoring three times in the final 15 minutes to claim a 4-1 victory that kept them at the top of the Serie A table.

Meanwhile, Bologna have lost each of their last four league matches against Napoli while failing to score on three occasions, so precedent stands against them ahead of the trip south to Campania.

Despite having at least picked up something from last week’s 1-1 draw with Sampdoria, Bologna lost points from leading positions yet again, and they have effectively squandered 11 after going ahead.

That has been owing to their inability to keep the defence intact after the interval, as they have also conceded the joint-most goals in the second half, along with Inter Milan and Hellas Verona.

With Thiago Motta having stepped into the dugout after Sinisa Mihajlovic’s removal, there has been little improvement, and the last time the Red and Blues registered fewer points at this stage of the campaign came about seven years ago.

However, Motta remains unbeaten in both matches he has overseen in Naples as a Serie A manager – a draw with Genoa in 2019 and a 1-0 victory as Spezia coach last December.

Napoli vs Bologna head to head

These two teams have previously met on 36 occasions across all competitions, where Napoli have claimed 20 victories while Bologna have won 11, and they have drawn in five. Bologna have scored 49 goals and conceded 76. In their last five meetings Napoli have won four while they have drawn one.

Bologna 1-1 Napoli 15/07/20

Bologna 0-1 Napoli 08/11/20

Napoli 3-1 Bologna 07/03/21

Napoli 3-0 Bologna 28/10/21

Bologna 0-2 Napoli 17/01/22

Napoli latest home form

Napoli have recently been on a good run of form at home, as they have won each of their four most recent matches. They managed to defeat Ajax 4-2 in their last home game in the Champions League. In their last five matches, they have scored 13 goals and conceded five.

Napoli 1-1 Lecce 31/08/22

Napoli 4-1 Liverpool 07/09/22

Napoli 1-0 Spezia 10/09/22

Napoli 3-1 Torino 01/10/22

Napoli 4-2 Ajax 12/10/22

Napoli latest away form

Napoli have recently been on a good run of form on the road, having won each of their five most recent matches. They managed to defeat Cremonese 4-1 in their last away game in the league. In their last five matches, they have scored 17 goals and conceded just four.

Lazio 1-2 Napoli 03/09/22

Rangers 0-3 Napoli 14/09/22

AC Milan 1-2 Napoli 18/09/22

Ajax 1-6 Napoli 04/10/22

Cremonese 1-4 Napoli 09/10/22

Bologna latest home form

Bologna have recently been on a relatively good run of form at home, having lost just one of their six most recent matches. They drew 1-1 with Sampdoria in their last home game in the league. In their last five matches, they have scored five goals and also conceded five.

Bologna 1-1 Verona 21/08/22

Bologna 1-1 Salernitana 01/09/22

Bologna 2-1 Fiorentina 11/09/22

Bologna 0-1 Empoli 17/09/22

Bologna 1-1 Sampdoria 08/10/22

Bologna latest away form

Bologna have recently failed to keep a good run of form on the road, having been winless in their six most recent matches. They were beaten 3-0 by Juventus in their last away game in the league. In their last five matches, they have scored four goals and conceded 13.

Twente 4-1 Bologna 29/07/22

Lazio 2-1 Bologna 14/08/22

AC Milan 2-0 Bologna 27/08/22

Spezia 2-2 Bologna 04/09/22

Juventus 3-0 Bologna 02/10/22

Napoli news

Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa is ruled out of this contest due to a thigh injury that he sustained against Ajax in midweek, and should be relaced by Tanguy Ndombele in midfield.

Amir Rrahmani is a major doubt, so either Leo Ostigard and Juan Jesus will be called upon to start alongside Kim Min-jae in defence.

Bologna news

Marko Arnautovic may be sidelined for Bologna through a back problem which has kept him out of training this week, and Joshua Zirkzee is likely to come in on his behalf.

The visitors are likely to deploy Stefan Posch at right-back, while Musa Barrow could come back into contention in attack.

Prediction and Odds

Due to their little attacking threat, Bologna should not stand in the way of Napoli, who are keen to extend their impressive run of results this season.

With an increasingly deep squad, the hosts can utilise a variety of personnel up front, all of whom should be too hot for their visitors to handle.

Odds: 1 1.88 X 2.10 2 3.10