Bologna vs Juventus predictions: Draw specialists could be at it again
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- Bologna have lost just nine of 46 matches in all competitions this season
- No team has lost fewer matches in Serie A this season than Juventus (4)
- Recommended bet: Draw
The race for Champions League qualification looks set to go down to the wire in Serie A and two of the teams in the heat of the battle, Bologna and Juventus, will meet at the Stadio Renato Dall'Ara on Sunday.
Heading into the weekend, Juventus are sat fourth in the standings, a point and place above Bologna, but with Atalanta not far above in third and Roma, Lazio and Fiorentina applying pressure from below, every point between now and the end of the season really does count.
Team news
Bologna could be boosted by the returns of Dan Ndoye and Nicolo Casale following respective hamstring and shoulder issues, but a calf injury will once again rule out right back Emil Holm.
Juventus will be without the suspended Kenan Yildiz following his sending off in last weekend's win over Monza, while their injury concerns are mounting in defence, with Lloyd Kelly (hamstring) the latest to be ruled out alongside Federico Gatti (broken leg) and Bremer (ACL).
Midfielder Teun Koopmeiners is still struggling with an Achilles issue, but there is better news regarding top scorer Dusan Vlahovic, who is expected to be involved after a recent muscle problem.
The stats
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Bologna have only lost two of their 22 matches across all competitions since the turn of the year, while they have won nine of their last 10 home fixtures, the only exception being last month's 1-1 draw with league leaders Napoli.
Juventus have lost just one of their five matches since Igor Tudor succeeded former Bologna head coach Thiago Motta in the Allianz Stadium dugout in March.
No team has lost fewer matches in Serie A this season than Juventus' total of four, although Bologna have themselves suffered only five defeats.
These two sides are also among the draw specialists in Serie A, as Juventus, alongside Parma, lead the way with 14 in the Italian top flight this season, one more than Bologna.
The last four meetings and five of the previous six clashes between these two sides have finished all square, including December's 2-2 draw in Turin where a Samuel Mbangula goal in second-half stoppage time salvaged a point for Juve.
Prediction
This is a pivotal clash in the race for Champions League qualification in Italy, but with so much at stake it could end up being a match where both teams are more scared of losing than they are willing to go all out for the victory.
That brings the draw into the equation and that is before even considering that these two sides are among the hardest to beat in the division.
Of the combined 68 matches they have played in Serie A this season, only nine have ended in defeat, while they have also been impossible to separate in any of their last four meetings.
While too many draws could end up being costly for one or both of these sides when it comes to who qualifies for the Champions League at the end of the season, for the time being, it may well be a case that both are happy to cut their losses and settle for a point.
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