On Saturday, October 24, 2020, the Stadio Olimpico hosts Lazio vs Bologna in Matchday 5 of the 2020/21 Serie A.
The Head Referee for this clash will be Massimiliano Irrati, the Assistant Referees will be Fiorito and Zingarelli, the Fourth Official will be Dionisi, and the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) will be Mazzoleni with the assistance of Di Vuolo.
In the 132 times that Lazio and Bologna have played each other in Serie A, the Biancocelesti have won on 51 occasions, the Rossoblu have won on 44 occasions and there have been 42 draws. In Rome, Lazio have won 36 times, Bologna have won 11 times and there have been 19 draws.
As it stands in the top flight of Italian football, the Biancocelesti sit in fifteenth with a record of 1W-1D-2L (4 points), while the Rossoblu sit in sixteenth with a record of 1W-0D-3L (3 points).
Expected Starting Lineups
Lazio (3-5-2): Reina; Patric, Luiz Felipe, Acerbi; Marusic, Akpa Akpro, Lucas Leiva, Luis Alberto, Fares; Muriqi, Immobile
- Unavailable: Escalante, Lazzari, Lulic, Pereira, Proto, Radu, Vavro
- Disqualified:
- One Yellow Card Away From Suspension: –
Bologna (4-4-2): Skorupski; De Silvestri, Tomiyasu, Danilo, Hickey; Svanberg, Schouten; Orsolini, Soriano, Barrow; Palacio
- Unavailable: Skov Olsen, Poli, Medel, Dijks
- Disqualified: –
- One Yellow Card Away From Suspension: –
Prediction
This match takes place after Lazio defeated Borussia Dortmund 3-1 (in Rome) in Matchday 1 of the UEFA Champions League. This was a result that Lazio will be content with; especially after the poor performance (3-0 loss) in the Serie A clash against Sampdoria which took place before the match against the German Bundesliga side. The Biancocelesti put forth a tremendous effort as they limited Dortmund’s chances and were stellar on the attack. Credit is due to Simone Inzaghi, who did a great job of having his squad mentally and physically prepared for the match. Lazio opened the score as Lucas Leiva created a turnover and, in the sequence, Joaquin Correa delivered a beautiful pass to Ciro Immobile who scored within the first ten minutes against his former club. Lazio’s relentless pressure and ability to keep hold of possession once again paid off near the 25-minute mark as Luis Alberto delivered an accurate cross into the goal area and Luiz Felipe got his head on the ball and directed it towards the goal. The ball went off of goalkeeper Marwin Hitz which resulted in an own goal. While there were a few other chances for the Biancocelesti, they failed to net the third goal. Dortmund cut the lead in half with under 20 minutes remaining, capitalizing on a rare turnover from Lazio, and Erling Haaland scored a rocket from inside the box. The momentum started to shift in the German’s favour but five minutes later, Lazio responded. Luis Alberto delivered a long pass down the left flank with Immobile holding the ball patiently near the byline. He sent a well-timed pass into the goal area and Jean-Daniel Akpa-Akpro executed his run to beat out the defender and score (to extend the lead to 3-1) and put the match out of reach for the Bundesliga side.
In Bologna’s recent match against Sassuolo, Roberto Soriano scored his third goal this season to open the score within the first ten minutes. However, their lead was short-lived as Domenico Berardi responded nine minutes later to tie the match. The Rossoblu were relentless in the first half as they applied the pressure and created more chances. Near half time, Bologna regained the lead as Musa Barrow advanced the ball upfield with plenty of space to work with. He passed it towards Palacio who redirected the pass to Soriano. The Italian passed it down the left side just outside the box to Mattias Svanberg, who made a great run and scored near the far-right post. Bologna continued where they left off in the first half as they extended their lead to 3-1 at the hour mark from Riccardo Orsolini. Bologna looked destined for their second win this season but things started to unravel for the home side. Four minutes later Sassuolo responded with a goal by Filip Djuricic. Their onslaught had just begun as six minutes later Francesco Caputo scored off a corner kick. In a short span, the game had taken a turn of events for Sinisa Mihajlovic’s side. Their misery continued as near the end of the match, Takehiro Tomiyasu scored an own goal and this resulted in a 4-3 win for Sassuolo.
The Rossoblu will now head to the Stadio Olimpico playing a confident side and will need to shake off their disappointing loss. Nonetheless, this should be an entertaining affair between two sides who have shown to score goals this season.
Prediction: Lazio 2-1 Bologna
