Having plummeted to the foot of the Serie A standings during a 10-game losing streak, Venezia's survival hopes hang by a thread as they prepare to host Bologna on Sunday.
After a midweek defeat to one of their relegation rivals, the Lagunari appear destined for demotion, while their visitors arrive at Stadio Pier Luigi Penzo in their best form of the season.
Match preview
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Having lost a crucial clash between two sides battling to preserve their top-flight status - only earned last summer after over 20 years away - Venezia's slip-up at Stadio Arechi on Thursday evening may be a definitive blow to their chances of staying up.
A recent burst of good form gave hosts Salernitana - who the Venetians recently replaced as Serie A's bottom side - the upper hand before the game, and despite top scorer Thomas Henry's equaliser just before the hour mark, the Arancioneroverdi returned home empty-handed following a 2-1 defeat.
Having fired coach Paolo Zanetti as a last-gasp effort to reverse their faltering fortunes, they have yet to see a response in terms of results and sit 20th in the table with three games left to play - seven points adrift of safety.
Without even a point since February, Venezia are therefore reaching the point of no return in the relegation fight, and former primavera coach Andrea Soncin - temporarily elevated to the top job following Zanetti's dismissal - is unlikely to produce a miraculous turnaround in the club's remaining fixtures.
The Lagunari have lost each of their last four matches at the Penzo and have never suffered more consecutive home defeats in their Serie A history. Not only that, but they have just picked up three points from their last 12 home games, so the win they now need to retain hope of staying afloat seems a tall order.
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Though they lost November's reverse fixture at Dall'Ara, Bologna have won each of their last five away games against Venezia in Serie A - though the most recent was over two decades ago.
More pertinently, the Emilian outfit have gone unbeaten in their last six league games - which represents the club's best such streak in 10 years - and can even finish in the top half with some help from others over the coming weeks.
After their goalless draw with Roma last time out, Bologna have already accumulated 43 points in Serie A this season and can still reach their best points tally since the turn of the century: 51 in 2011-12.
Two factors are undoubtedly at the root of their recent revival, with one being the galvanising effect of producing positive results to boost coach Sinisa Mihajlovic - who is undergoing treatment for leukaemia - and the other being an increasingly resilient rearguard.
With 17 goals conceded in 16 games during the second half of the season, only Milan, Juventus and Inter have shipped fewer than the Rossoblu this year; helping them hold the former pair to draws and unexpectedly beat the latter a fortnight ago.
However, they have just scored 12 goals themselves over the same period, which is only more than Genoa (six) and Sunday's opponents (11).
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Team News
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Having returned to Bologna's training complex this week, after a month in hospital, Sinisa Mihajlovic will have an almost fully fit squad to choose from, with only Mitchell Dijks still a doubt due to injury and midfielder Kingsley Michael certainly remaining out of action.
After being replaced by Kevin Bonifazi at Stadio Olimpico last week, Belgian defender Arthur Theate could return to the starting XI, while Musa Barrow, Riccardo Orsolini and Nicola Sansone are battling it out to support Marko Arnautovic up front.
Arnautovic has scored 13 times in Serie A this season, and allied to a single strike in the Coppa Italia, with one more he will set a new personal goals record for a single campaign.
Meanwhile, Venezia goalkeepers Luca Lezzerini and Sergio Romero remain on the sidelines this weekend, so third-choice stopper Niki Maenpaa once again deputises as their last line of defence.
Experienced midfielder Antonio Vacca recently returned from a muscular problem and is in contention to feature from the start, as Ethan Ampadu must serve a suspension after receiving a red card against Salernitana on Thursday.
Top scorer Thomas Henry should be joined by Mattia Aramu and David Okereke in a front three, despite the latter - who scored against Bologna in the reverse fixture - only netting once in 11 league appearances since February.
Venezia possible starting lineup:
Maenpaa; Svoboda, Caldara, Ceccaroni; Mateju, Crnigoj, Cuisance, Haps; Aramu; Henry, Okereke
Bologna possible starting lineup:
Skorupski; Soumaoro, Medel, Theate; De Silvestri, Svanberg, Schouten, Soriano, Hickey; Barrow, Arnautovic
We say: Venezia 1-1 Bologna
Unlikely to be a thriller due to both sides' lack of potency, this could be a close-fought encounter, with the home side desperately seeking to prolong their surely inevitable demise.
Bologna, meanwhile, can play with great freedom, and the confidence gleaned from recent results against the top clubs should ensure they continue their unbeaten run.
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats, suggests the most likely outcome of this match is a Bologna win with a probability of 43.87%. A win for Venezia has a probability of 31.3% and a draw has a probability of 24.8%.
The most likely scoreline is Venezia 1-1 Bologna with a probability of 11.69% and the second most likely scoreline is Venezia 0-1 Bologna with a probability of 9.16%.
Top tip
Jonathan O'Shea
