Preview: Bologna vs. Sassuolo - prediction, team news, lineups

Winless in three Serie A games heading into the final matchday before the new year, Bologna host Sassuolo in Sunday’s regional derby at Stadio Renato Dall’Ara, hoping to end 2025 positively.

Vincenzo Italiano’s team are four points clear of the Neroverdi in the table ahead of gameweek 17, but a four-match unbeaten streak in this fixture gives them a recent edge ahead of their final match before 2026.

Match preview

Bologna’s response to losing to AC Milan at San Siro in mid-September was a nine-match sequence without defeat in the top flight, putting them in with an outside shot of title contention.

However, the wheels have seemingly come off since a shock 3-1 defeat at the Dall’Ara at the start of December, with a draw at Lazio then followed by another home disappointment against Juventus.

Since losing to the Old Lady, the Rossoblu have gone to Riyadh for the Supercoppa Italiana, where they eliminated Inter Milan in the semis but fell to Antonio Conte’s Napoli in the title match, losing 2-0.

Now back in Serie A action in their final match of 2025, Italiano’s men are aiming to win their first league game in over a month, since beating Udinese 3-0 on November 22.

Since that victory, Bologna have secured only one point from a possible nine, leaving them four points behind fifth-placed Juventus but, more worryingly, one point above Como in seventh, two points ahead of Lazio and three clear of Atalanta, meaning they are now looking over their shoulders.

Even this weekend’s opponents are closing in on the Red and Blues, with Fabio Grosso’s men just four points adrift of their regional rivals ahead of the first meeting this season and the first since February 2024.

The Neroverdi suffered top-flight relegation but have returned with positivity, sitting in mid-table as the halfway point of the season draws near.

Although Grosso’s team slipped to a home defeat against Torino before Christmas, their last match on the road was a creditable 2-2 draw at San Siro, where they led then trailed before Armand Lauriente’s 77th-minute equaliser.

Now back on the road, Sassuolo will hope to leverage results on their travels – albeit marginally superior to results in home games – to end the year on a high, having claimed 11 of their 21 points outside Mapei Stadium.

Yet a disappointing run in this fixture leaves much to be desired: Sassuolo are winless in four meetings, losing two and drawing as many in the last three years, even if some optimistic supporters will point to their May 2022 victory – a 3-1 triumph at the Dall’Ara – as proof of their side’s ability to claim results at the home of their Reggio Emilia rivals.

Bologna Serie A form:

Bologna form (all competitions):

Sassuolo Serie A form:

Team News

Torbjorn Heggem will miss Sunday’s game due to suspension for his sending-off against Juventus, while Lukasz Skorupski, Federico Bernardeschi, Remo Freuler and Nicolo Casale are in the infirmary.

Only Inter’s Lautaro Martinez (eight goals) and Milan’s Christian Pulisic (seven) have outscored Riccardo Orsolini this season, with the Bologna captain scoring six and assisting one ahead of the final match of 2025.

With four of his six goals coming in home games, a joint-high with Martinez in Serie A, the forward aims to do more damage at the Dall’Ara this weekend.

Woyo Coulibaly is absent as he is currently representing Mali at the Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco; however, missing out for Sassuolo due to injury are Domenico Berardi, Yeferson Paz, Stefano Turati, Laurs Skjellerup, Edoardo Pieragnolo, Daniel Boloca and Filippo Romagna, while Andrea Pinamonti’s status is questionable.

Two of Pinamonti’s four league goals have been match-winners while all four have been away from home, highlighting the forward’s importance and the need for someone to step up if he is ultimately unavailable on Sunday.

The same applies to Berardi, who has scored four and assisted three, with 75% of the injured forward’s strikes coming on the road, but he is set to miss out due to a muscle issue this weekend.

Bologna possible starting lineup:

Ravaglia; Zortea, Vitik, Lucumi, Lykogiannis; Moro, Pobega; Orsolini, Fabbian, Rowe; Dallinga

Sassuolo possible starting lineup:

Muric; Walukiewicz, Izdes, Muharemovic, Doig; Thorstvedt, Matic, Kone; Volpato, Cheddira, Lauriente

We say: Bologna 2-1 Sassuolo

With two of Sassuolo’s key marksmen – Berardi and Pinamonti – likely to miss out on Sunday, Bologna should back themselves for maximum points against their regional rivals, thereby securing a third win in five matches in this fixture.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.