Bologna vs Juventus: Preview, Predicted line-ups and Prediction
Serie A champions Juventus will travel to Stadio Renato Dall'Ara on Sunday to face relegation-threatened Bologna as they look to maintain their huge 13-point lead at the top of the league table. The Old Lady will also want to bounce back from the disappointment of losing the first leg of their Champions League Round of 16 tie against Atletico Madrid. That defeat raised questions on Massimiliano Allegri's future since he may come up short once again in Europe's elite competition.
Apart from their 2-2 draw away to Atalanta, Juventus have encountered relatively few problems in the league this season. They will be looking to extend their unbeaten run to 25 matches against a Bologna side who have won only once in 2019. The hosts lost to Roma last Monday to fall into the relegation scrap. They are four points from safety, and they are in danger of being caught up by Frosinone who are only two points behind. Bologna have not registered any notable wins against the league's top sides this season, and have lost half of their league matches. Juventus on the other hand have won all but one of their away matches this season.
Team News
Bologna will be without Mattia Destro, Federico Mattiello and Giancaro Gonzalez due to injuries. Rodriggo Palacio may miss due to fitness problems.
For Juventus, they will be without midfielder Sami Khedira for some time, after he underwent heart surgery earlier this week.
Emre Can is suspended, while Juan Cuadrado is still out.
Predicted Bologna starting XI: Skorupski, Mbaye, Danilo, Lyanco, Dijks, Soriano, Poli, Pulgar, Sansone, Santander, Edera.
Predicted Juventus starting XI: Szczesny; Cancelo, Bonucci, Caceres, Alex Sandro; Bentancur, Pjanic, Matuidi; Bernardeschi, Mandzukic, Ronaldo.
Prediction: Juventus may have suffered a massive blow in their Champions League hopes in Madrid, but they have been near-perfect in the league. Still unbeaten after 24 matches, and are playing a side struggling for wins this year. The Old Lady have won 10 of their last 11 matches (drawing one) against Sunday's opponents and in fairness, they could not have picked a more straightforward task than this.
Bologna 1-3 Juventus