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Milan logo
Serie A | Gameweek 34
Jul 18, 2020 at 8.45pm UK
Giuseppe Meazza
Bologna logo

AC Milan
5 - 1
Bologna

Saelemaekers (10'), Calhanoglu (24'), Bennacer (49'), Rebic (57'), Calabria (90+2')
Kjaer (51'), Saelemaekers (54')
FT(HT: 2-1)
Tomiyasu (44')
Sansone (35')

Preview: AC Milan vs. Bologna - prediction, team news, lineups

Sports Mole previews Saturday's Serie A clash between AC Milan and Bologna, including team news and predicted lineups.

In-form AC Milan will be aiming to consolidate their place in the top seven of Serie A when they welcome Bologna to San Siro on Saturday.

The Rossoneri have performed well since returning to action last month and are close to securing a European spot, while Bologna are winless in three and have little left to play for.


Match preview

Only Atalanta BC have been in better form than Milan since Serie A resumed three weeks ago, with Stefano Pioli's side winning five and drawing two of their six matches.

Those have not exactly been easy fixtures, either, having defeated top-two sides Juventus and Lazio in quick succession, as well as beating Roma and drawing with Napoli.

Pioli's men kept their good run going on Wednesday with a 3-1 comeback win over Parma at San Siro thanks to second-half goals from Franck Kessie, Alessio Romagnoli and Hakan Calhanoglu.

Milan had to ride their luck at times but that is now three home wins in a row and a place in the top seven now seems a formality, the Rossoneri holding a six-point lead on Sassuolo with five games to go.

However, one of those games happens to be against Sassuolo, who have themselves looked impressive of late, so Pioli will know the importance of staying on track with another victory this weekend.

Bologna boss Sinisa Mihajlovic in June 2020.© Reuters

Bologna head into the match on the back of successive draws over Parma and Napoli, with Musa Barrow netting late on to snatch a point in the latter of those fixtures.

The Rossoblu are exactly midway in the table, 10 points behind Milan in the final Europa League spot and 13 points above the relegation zone.

Anything less than victory on Saturday will kill off their slim European hopes, then, but Sinisa Mihajlovic will be pleased enough with his campaign regardless.

Bologna have a pretty decent away record, too, losing just two of their last nine matches, with victories over Roma, Napoli and Inter Milan during that run.

Milan have won three in a row at San Siro, though, and have won seven of their last eight meetings with Bologna, drawing the other.

AC Milan's Serie A form: WDWWDW

Bologna's Serie A form: WDWLDD


Team News

Lucas Paqueta in action for Flamengo on August 23, 2018© Reuters

Lucas Paqueta pulled out of Milan's squad with a knee injury in midweek and is considered doubtful for this match.

Rafael Leao came into the side last time out, as did Giacomo Bonaventura and Lucas Biglia, and all three players performed well in the win over Parma.

Andrea Conti gave Milan an added threat when replacing Davide Calabria at the break and may start this one, while Ante Rebic is in line for a recall up top given the quick turnaround in games.

Andrea Poli and Federico Santander have been nursing injuries but were part of Bologna's squad against Napoli and may come into the starting XI for this one.

Roberto Soriano made a welcome return from suspension and is in line to start alongside Andreas Skov Olsen and Barrow once again.

Elsewhere, Riccardo Orsolini is pushing for a recall after being brought off the bench against Napoli.

AC Milan possible starting lineup:
Donnarumma; Conti, Kjaer, Romagnoli, Hernandez; Biglia, Kessie; Leao, Bonaventura, Calhanoglu; Rebic

Bologna possible starting lineup:
Skorupski; Mbaye, Danilo, Tomiyasu, Krejci; Medel, Dominguez; Olsen, Soriano, Barrow; Palacio


Sports Mole Logo

We say: AC Milan 2-1 Bologna

Milan have stepped up a gear since the restart and Pioli's job now appears to be safe. The hosts will be eager to keep building momentum with victory and, despite Bologna's impressive results away at big clubs, we are backing them to prevail this weekend.



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Data Analysis

Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a AC Milan win with a probability of 50.27%. A win for Bologna had a probability of 26.41% and a draw had a probability of 23.3%.

The most likely scoreline for an AC Milan win was 2-1 with a probability of 9.61%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-0 (8.83%) and 2-0 (7.84%). The likeliest Bologna win was 1-2 (6.64%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (10.82%). The actual scoreline of 5-1 was predicted with a 0.9% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that AC Milan would win this match.


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rhs 2.0
Today's games header
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Inter Milan32265177176083
2AC Milan32216563372669
3Juventus32189545242163
4Bologna321611545252059
5Roma31167856352155
6Atalanta BCAtalanta311561057362151
7Napoli321310950401049
8Lazio32154134135649
9Torino32111293129245
10Fiorentina31128114336744
11Monza321110113441-743
12Genoa32912113539-439
13Lecce32711142748-2132
14CagliariCagliari32710153454-2031
15Hellas VeronaHellas Verona32610163044-1428
16Udinese31416113047-1728
17Empoli3277182548-2328
18FrosinoneFrosinone3269174063-2327
19SassuoloSassuolo3268183962-2326
20Salernitana3229212668-4215


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