Bologna sit just one point above the bottom three following the away defeat to Atalanta, meaning the hosts have no choice but to go for a win against Inter. The Nerazzurri climbed to fourth with back to back wins over Udinese and Livorno, and no doubt they will fancy their chances of winning at Renato Dall’Ara as well.

Difficult relegation tussle ahead

Bologna enjoyed a pretty good season last term, finishing the campaign in mid table, but numerous changes to the playing squad over the summer seriously halted their progress. And while club chiefs managed to keep hold of star midfielder Alessandro Diamanti, the likes of Saphir Taider, Manolo Gabbiadini all left, leaving a big gap to fill. The club did sign quite a few new players during off-season, but the lack of a proven goalscorer appears to be the biggest issue at the moment. Given that the likes of Bianchi, Cristaldo, Acquafresca and Moscardelli have scored mere three league goals between them, there is no end of problems in sight. Felsinei seriously boosted their survival hopes with back to back triumphs over Livorno and Cagliari, but they soon returned to under-par showings, sharing spoils with Chievo at home before losing to Atalanta. And with several important players still missing and Bologna not even close to turning their Renato Dall’Ara into a fortress, another difficult game appears on the cards for Stefano Pioli’s men.

Cesare Natali is doubtful with a thigh problem, but Andrea Mantovani, Henry Gimenez and Niccolo Cherubin are definitely out.

Inter back in business

Ninth-placed finish from last season may prove to be a blessing in disguise as the poor league position persuaded the club chiefs to make a serious effort to help the Nerazzurri return to old glory days. They couldn’t have found a better man to oversee the squad rebuilding process than Walter Mazzarri, who just happened to be searching for a new challenge following a long-spell with Napoli. The experienced boss quickly got the team playing to their potential and what should have been a transition season quickly turned into a huge success. And bar the 3-0 home defeat to Roma, Inter have been pretty impressive most of the time, as witnessed by the fact they have climbed to fourth position at the time when the competition for top 5 places have never been stronger. The Nerazzurri recovered well from the aforementioned loss to Roma, having embarked on a five-match unbeaten run, with back to back wins over Udinese and Livorno keeping them in good stead for the clash with out-of-sorts Bologna.

Andrea Ranocchia misses out through suspension, whereas fellow defenders Hugo Campagnaro and Walter Samuel are doubtful. Cristian Chivu, Mauro Icardi, McDonald Mariga and Diego Milito remain on the sidelines.

Verdict

This Bologna side appear to be seriously weaker than the one that suffered a 3-1 home defeat to Inter last season, and they are clearly completely out of form at the moment. Meanwhile, the Nerazzurri are firing on all cylinders and they can be trusted to overcome an injury crisis and claim maximum points.

Top pick: Away win   2.00 (1/1) @ William Hill

Alternative pick 1: Inter/Inter   3.20 (11/5) @ Paddy Power

Alternative pick 2: Inter to win to nil   3.50 (5/2) @ Ladbrokes