Napoli visit the Stadio Dall’ara for their third consecutive away match in only eight days, while Bologna’s difficult schedule continues after opening the season with matches against Milan and Juventus.
Bologna FC
Bologna started the round sitting 11th in the table with a record of 1 win, 2 draws and 1 defeat. I Rossoblù have a tendency to play to the level of their opponent’s level, keeping it close against Milan and Juventus, but also failing to beat Hellas Verona.
Thiago Motta continues to impress at the helm of the club from Emilia-Romagna, despite a massive turnover of players over the past two seasons. Nine of his 11 starters against Bologna have been with the club for two seasons or less.
SSC Napoli
Napoli will look to build some momentum after traveling to Portugal for their opening match of the UEFA Champions League Group Stage and defeating Braga 1-2. Prior to Wednesday’s victory, the Partenopei dropped points in consecutive Serie A matches.
Prior to the September international break, Napoli collapsed in the second half to suffer a 1-2 defeat at the hands of Lazio – the Biancocelesti’s only win of the season. With little time to prepare for another away match, Napoli struggled in the opening hour against Genoa, who scored on two of their three shots on target. However, Garcia’s substitutes made an impact, scoring twice in the latter stages of the match to salvage a point.
Despite the victory over Braga, Garcia has plenty of work to do to regain the confidence of Napoli tifosi. The Azzurri created a number of chances against Braga, but struggled to find the back of the goal for various reasons – poor luck, hitting the upright twice, strong goalkeeping from goalkeeper Matheus and poor finishing. Meanwhile, Napoli remained very open in defense and were fortunate that Braga were not as clinical as their Serie A opponents have been. Otherwise, the home side might have stolen a point, if not all three.
Injuries/Suspensions
Motta will be without Adama Soumaoro, who continues to recover from a patella rupture. However, Alexis Saelemaekers has recovered from an ankle injury and is expected to start on the bench.
For Napoli, Amir Rrahmani is expected to miss approximately a month due to a thigh strain. Juan Jesus also suffered a thigh strain in training on Saturday and will not suit up on Sunday, leaving Napoli very thin at centre back. Pierluigi Gollini has been replaced by Hubert Idasiak as the Italian continues to recover from a hand injury. Meanwhile, Diego Demme has returned to the squad.
Probable Formations
Manager’s Comments
Thiago Motta:
“They’re a good team with good players. They had other scoring opportunities that didn’t end up in the goal, but they played a good game, they won. They’ll come away with confidence and we’ll focus on what we have to do and how we can limit a good team like Napoli…The formation that this Napoli will use against a play like us will have four at the back. You can see it is the usual Napoli. On the flanks, they’re a team that attacks well because they attack well with their two full backs. The wingers are good. In the midfield, they have players who are good at dribbling. I repeat, we focus on what we have to do and certainly on what we can avoid against Napoli.”
Rudi Garcia:
“[We need to] recover the points that we lost away from home and we go to Bologna to do this, to win, knowing that Bologna is a good team with a good coach. I already admired Thaigo Motta when he was a player, but I think he’s doing well as a coach. Bologna is a team that plays, that has quality, but that doesn’t change anything for us. After four days we have recovered because this is also important. We have focused on the team’s recovery, to feel good physically, and for the moment, apart from some players who have not yet returned to 100%, for the rest, everything is normal.”
Previous Meetings
| May 28, 2023 | Bologna FC | 2-2 | SSC Napoli |
| October 16, 2022 | SSC Napoli | 3-2 | Bologna FC |
| January 17, 2022 | Bologna FC | 0-2 | SSC Napoli |
| October 28, 2021 | SSC Napoli | 3-0 | Bologna FC |
| March 7, 2021 | SSC Napoli | 3-1 | Bologna FC |
Match Officials
Head Official: Giovanni Ayroldi
Assistants: Daniele Bindoni and Alberto Tegoni
Fourth Official: Daniele Doveri
VAR: Massimiliano Irrati and Orlando Pagnotta
