Overview
After the defeat to AC Milan at San Siro in mid-September, Bologna once created a 9-match unbeaten streak in Serie A, thereby nurturing hopes of chasing the championship group.
However, everything started to diverge since the shocking 1-3 defeat at Dall'Ara in early December. Followed by a draw with Lazio and another home defeat to Juventus, Rossoblu's positive trajectory was broken.
After losing to the "Old Lady", Bologna went to Riyadh to participate in the Italian Super Cup. They impressed when they eliminated Inter Milan in the semi-finals, but succumbed to Napoli of Antonio Conte with a score of 0-2 in the final.
Returning to Serie A in the last match of 2025, coach Vincenzo Italiano's team aims for their first victory in the tournament after more than a month, since the 3-0 victory over Udinese on November 22. Since that time, Bologna has only won 1 point out of a maximum of 9 points, thereby four points behind fifth-placed Juventus.
More worryingly, the top group race is tightening behind them. Bologna is only one point ahead of Como in seventh place, two points ahead of Lazio and three points ahead of Atalanta. That means Rossoblu is not only thinking about sticking to the top 4, but also having to start holding a place in the group competing for a European cup spot.
In the opposite direction, this weekend's opponent is also very close. Fabio Grosso's team is only four points behind Bologna before the first encounter of the season - and also the first time the two teams have met since February 2024.
Sassuolo once dropped out of the league, but are returning with a positive spirit and currently standing in the middle of the rankings as the season is almost halfway through. Despite losing to Torino at home before Christmas, their most recent away match brought optimistic signals. They drew 2-2 at San Siro, where Sassuolo once led, then were led back when Armand Lauriente equalized in the 77th minute.
Now, having to continue to travel far from home, Sassuolo aims to exploit their away strength - where they won 11/21 points this season - to close the year with a positive result.
However, recent head-to-head history does not favor the black and blue striped team. Sassuolo has not won in the last four encounters with Bologna (2 losses, 2 draws) in the past 3 years. However, optimists can still cite the 3-1 victory at Dall'Ara in May 2022 as a suggestion that Sassuolo is capable of creating good results right on Bologna's field.
Personnel situation
Torbjorn Heggem will be absent due to suspension after a red card in the match against Juventus. Meanwhile, Lukasz Skorupski, Federico Bernardeschi, Remo Freuler and Nicolo Casale are currently in treatment, causing Bologna to continue to suffer significant losses in force.
On the attacking front, only Lautaro Martinez of Inter (8 goals) and Christian Pulisic of Milan (7 goals) scored more goals than Riccardo Orsolini this season. The Bologna captain has 6 goals and 1 assist before the last match of 2025. Notably, 4/6 of Orsolini's goals were scored at home - a record equal to Martinez in Serie A.
On Sassuolo's side, Woyo Coulibaly is absent due to participating with Mali in AFCON in Morocco. The injury list of the away team is also very long, including Domenico Berardi, Yeferson Paz, Stefano Turati, Laurs Skjellerup, Edoardo Pieragnolo, Daniel Boloca and Filippo Romagna, while Andrea Pinamonti's condition remains uncertain.
Pinamonti is particularly important to Sassuolo. 2/4 of his goals in Serie A this season are decisive goals, and all 4 goals were scored away from home.
Expected lineup:
Ravaglia, Zortea, Vitik, Lucumi, Lykogiannis, Moro, Pobega, Orsolini, Fabbian, Rowe, Dallinga.
Muric, Walukiewicz, Izdes, Muharemovic, Doig, Thorstvedt, Matic, Kone, Volpato, Cheddira, Lauriente.
The match between Bologna and Sassuolo takes place at 0:00 AM on December 29 (Vietnam time).
