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Bologna hope to reverse their terrible start to the season against Cagliari, with the Sardinians making the long trip to the Stadio Renato Dell'Ara on Saturday.
The home side have lost four of their opening five games in Serie A, leaving them 17th in the table, while Cagliari are in 11th place.
There was some midweek cheer for Bologna as they defeated Serie B side Reggina in the Coppa Italia by a 2-0 scoreline. There were also some promising signs in Bologna's previous Serie A game against Lazio.
While they fell to a 2-1 defeat at the Stadio Olimpico, Bologna were a threat to the opposition for much of the game. Three of Bologna's four defeats have been by a margin of a solitary goal, so they are not struggling as much as their low league position suggests.
Cagliari made it three wins on the trot after defeating Cremonese 1-0 in round three of the Coppa Italia, although the clean sheet must have pleased manager Eusebio di Francesco the most.
In Serie A, Cagliari's last three games have involved a total of 18 goals, so clearly their defence is leaking somewhat, but the likes of Joao Pedro and Giovanni Simeone are also banging in the goals, as they did against Crotone last week.
Bologna vs Cagliari Head-to-Head
Bologna have had the upper hand in this fixture, winning four and drawing four of the last 10, while Cagliari have only managed two wins.
However, both of those wins came at home in the previous two seasons, with this same fixture in June ending up as a 1-1 draw.
Bologna form guide: W-L-L-L-W
Cagliari form guide: L-L-W-W-W
Bologna vs Cagliari Team News
Bologna
Striker Federico Santander joined Mitchell Dijks, Andrea Poli, and Andrea Skov Olsen in the treatment room after picking up an injury against Reggina in the midweek fixture. There was good news for Sinisa Mihajlovic though, as Gary Medel returned to training - although he trained separately and is unlikely to feature.
Having rested most of his star players against Reggina, Mihajlovic will probably revert back to his strongest XI which featured against Lazio, although Musa Barrow may replace Nicola Sansone in the lineup.
Injuries: Federico Santander, Mitchell Dijks, Andrea Poli, Andrea Skov Olsen
Doubtful: Gary Medel
Suspensions: None
Cagliari
There was good news for the Sardinians as Gaston Pereiro returned to training ahead of this game, while Luca Ceppitelli trained by himself away from the group. Zito Luvombo and Simone Pinna continued their stay in the treatment room.
Eusebio Di Francesco made 10 changes to his lineup against Cremonese in midweek, and he is expected to name the same starting XI as he did against Crotone and Torino.
Injuries: Zito Luvombo, Simone Pinna, Luca Ceppitelli
Doubtful: Gaston Pereiro
Suspensions: None
Bologna vs Cagliari Predicted Lineups
Bologna Predicted XI (4-2-3-1): Lukasz Skorupski (GK); Lorenzo di Silvestri, Danilo Larangeira, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Aaron Hickey; Mattias Svanberg, Jerdy Schouten; Riccardo Orsolini, Roberto Soriano, Musa Barrow; Rodrigo Palacio
Cagliari Predicted XI (4-4-2): Alessio Cragno (GK); Gabriele Zappa, Sebastian Walukiewicz, Diego Godin, Charalampos Lykogiannis; Nahitan Nandez, Razvan Marin, Marko Rog, Riccardo Sottil; Joao Pedro, Giovanni Simeone
Bologna vs Cagliari Prediction
Bologna have not lost to Cagliari at home in eight games, but the terrible start to their season may have hurt their confidence. However, with the likes of Riccardo Orsolini and Roberto Soriano in form, Bologna have the capacity to take advantage of Cagliari's leaky defence.
The Sardinians have firepower of their own in Joao Pedro and Giovanni Simeone, so we could be in line for a high-scoring, topsy-turvy encounter in Bologna.
Prediction: Bologna 2-2 Cagliari
