Liverpool vs Bologna: Match Preview, Odds & Prediction

On Wednesday, Liverpool will play Bologna in their Champions League matchday two encounter at Anfield. The two teams will once again face Italian opposition.

The Reds stunned AC Milan 3-1 at San Siro, giving Arne Slot his first taste of European football on Merseyside. In the opening encounter, the Rossoblu held Shakhtar Donetsk to a decent scoreless draw.

Previous Matches and Head to head

It is not unprecedented for Liverpool to mount a comeback and defeat AC Milan in a Champions League match. However, on September 17, the Reds did not require a miraculous comeback similar to the one in Istanbul to triumph over their 2005 and 2007 final opponents. Christian Pulisic scored the first goal.

Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate took advantage of set-piece errors made by the Rossoneri to swiftly swing the game in Liverpool's favour, and midway through the second half, Dominik Szoboszlai scored a spectacular goal to finish off a brilliant performance by his team.

This win over Paulo Fonseca's squad started a four-game winning streak for Slot's well-oiled machine, which included victories over Bournemouth and Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Premier League and a 5-1 EFL Cup thrashing of West Ham United last season.

Despite not having the upper hand in their match against the latter, Liverpool secured top spot in the Premier League standings thanks to a Mohamed Salah penalty kick. This came about because Manchester City lost points at Newcastle United, which meant that Slot's team, the champions, and Arsenal were all in a thrilling three-way title race.

Putting aside concerns at home for the moment, Liverpool are looking to extend an impressive continental run on Wednesday. The Reds have won all ten of their European group stage/league phase matches played at Anfield, and they have scored twice in each of their past nine outings.

Just six years after Thiago Motta and company broke Bologna's 60-year exile from Europe's elite, the Rossoblu, whose previous European Cup appearance was in 1964–65, had their promising coach leave for struggling Juventus.

Under Vincenzo Italiano's tutelage, the Italian upstarts recently welcomed Shakhtar to a damp Dall'Ara and celebrated a goalless draw with their Ukrainian opponents. Italiano previously guided Fiorentina to three finals: two Europa Conference League and one Coppa Italia, which they ultimately lost.

After losing star players Riccardo Calafiori and Joshua Zirkzee to the Premier League for large sums of money, Wednesday's opponents Bologna have struggled to find success since Italiano took charge. In fact, they have only managed to win once in seven matches this season.

Despite playing with a 10-man squad for the majority of the second half, the Rossoblu were able to secure a 1-1 draw with Atalanta BC, the holders of the Europa League, thanks to a late equalizer from Lazar Samardzic. This gives the Rossoblu a great deal of pride in their most recent Serie A performance.

The competent but unremarkable visitors, who were playing in their first ever competitive match against the six-time European winners, were down to their fourth goalless draw in five matches before that two-goal thriller. They are currently in the unfortunate thirteenth position in Serie A.

Liverpool x Bologna Team News

Andy Robertson left Molineux on crutches after Carlos Forbs's strong challenge, but Slot doesn't believe the Scottish left defender has a major injury. This meant that Liverpool did not escape the weekend unscathed.

Harvey Elliott will definitely sit out Bologna's visit due to a foot fracture, but Darwin Nunez may be available to play again after being sidelined with an illness in Wolves' victory. Robertson will still require a thorough evaluation before the match.

In addition to becoming the first Liverpool player to score in five consecutive Champions League/European Cup matches at Anfield, Salah, who scored the game-winning goal from 12 yards last weekend, has another piece of history hanging in the balance.

Regarding Bologna, defender Jhon Lucumi's availability for Wednesday's game is unaffected by the red card he received in the weekend's draw with Atalanta. However, forward Santiago Castro's status will need to be evaluated following his dismissal from the previous match.

In addition to midfielders Tommaso Pobega and Oussama El Azzouzi, who are recovering from knee problems, the Italian team is already without Lewis Ferguson, who tore his anterior cruciate ligament.

In Castro's absence, the starting lineup will consist of Thijs Dallinga, a summer signing from Toulouse; nevertheless, the Dutchman has yet to see significant playing time in any of his five club appearances.

Our Predictions

Liverpool to win and over 2.5 goals @ 1.50 on Sky247.ng

At Shakhtar, Bologna had 17 shots on goal while Shakhtar only managed one (a penalty saved by Lukasz Skorupski), but at a lively Anfield, the tables will definitely turn.

Liverpool should have little trouble cruising to another resounding European triumph since the Rossoblu aren't the same formidable attacking or defensive unit they were while playing under Motta.

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