Both Bologna and Torino will head into the final day of the Serie A season knowing they’re both safe for another season in the domestic top flight, so both are expected to play with freedom and in a relaxed state when they clash at the Stadio Renato Dall’Ara on Sunday evening.
Bologna were handed a heavy 4-0 rout at the hands of Fiorentina during the week and it’s just as well that the hosts have already secured their top flight safety as they come into this encounter having managed just one win out of their previous seven matches overall.
That rare success came in the shape of a 3-2 home win against relegation-threatened Lecce but four defeats to Sassuolo, AC Milan, Atalanta and Fiorentina have nevertheless ensured a disappointing end to Bologna’s campaign.
Victories on home turf have also been hard to come by for Bologna who have picked up just two wins out of their last 10 matches at their Stadio Renato Dall’Ara, so perhaps the goal markets are the best option here - especially as 15 of Bologna’s 18 home matches have resulted in both teams scoring.
Onto Torino, and the visitors have avoided relegation by a slim margin with just four points separating them from third from bottom outfit, Lecce, ahead of this final day of the Serie A season, but no thanks to a four-match sequence without a win.
Defeats to Fiorentina and Roma along with draws against Hellas Verona and SPAL made it a nervous ending to this Serie A campaign for Torino who have managed to collect just two wins from their last 10 matches overall.
Victories over Brescia and Genoa in 3-1 and 3-0 wins were both recorded on home turf at their Stadio Olimpico Grande Torino though, while an abysmal finish to the season away from home have seen Torino fail to win any of their last nine matches away from home, losing eight of these!
Having managed to register just four away wins throughout the whole of this season, an away win here would seem highly unlikely but goals have featured on a regular basis in Torino’s travels with six of their last nine away matches resulting in both teams hitting the back of the net.
Four of the previous seven encounters between these two teams have seen both score and this outcome looks likely again this Sunday.