MONACO have made an unbeaten start to their Champions League campaign and will be looking to extend that on a visit to Italy on Matchday 4. Hosts Bologna badly need to get a first win on the board, and here we preview Bologna vs Monaco on Tuesday, November 5th from the Stadio Renato Dall'Ara.
How the bookies view it: Tight match winner lines
The bookies don’t seem to know which way to go with this one, with some having very tight lines. William Hill is at 13/8 on an away win for Monaco, with Bologna at 7/4 to get their first win of the campaign on the board. That looks like a fair assessment, with Bologna carrying the better form of the two clubs recently, even though they have had their Champions League struggles.
Recent head-to-head: First Meeting Coming Up
Bologna and Monaco will meet for the first time competitively on Tuesday night.
Players to watch: Embolo to carry a threat for Monaco
Florian Balogun would have looked the most likely player to hit the back of the net for Monaco on Tuesday. The forward has had a truncated season, but a good return of three goals in six appearances in Ligue 1 at least. But injury has robbed Monaco of the key forward player, so the goal-scoring responsibility rests on the shoulders of Breel Embolo.
After failing to score in his first eight appearances in all competitions, Embolo has scored in two of his last three games, including one in Monaco’s 5-1 win over Red Star on Matchday 3. Serie A side Bologna have yet to score in this season’s Champions League, but midfielder Riccardo Orsolini is their top scorer in Serie A with 4 in 9.
Predicted Lineups
Monaco are missing the injured Florian Balogun, who may not be back before the end of the year. Defender Mohammed Salisu is another key player missing for them. Bologna are missing Michel Aebishcer, along with a couple of others, and the Rossoblu will likely roll with Santiago Castro up front over Thijs Dallinga.
Bologna: Ravaglia, Lucumi, De Silvestri, Beukema, Miranda, Moro, Orsolini, Feuler, Ndoye, Odgaard, Castro
Monaco: Majecki, Kehrer, Caio Henrique, Singo, Diatta, Golovin, Aliouche, Camara, Minamino, Ilenikhena, Embolo
Anything else catches the eye?
The interesting thing about this upcoming Champions League match is the respective recent form of both teams. Bologna have won their last two in Serie A so they likely won’t tinker with a winning formula too much for this home game, in which they need a victory to get their campaign up and running.
Bologna are D1 L2 so far in the Champions League, the losses coming against Premier League sides Liverpool and Aston Villa. However, in all competitions, they are undefeated on home turf this season with a somewhat remarkable W1 D5 record, including a 0-0 against Shakhtar Donetsk on Matchday 1. Bologna have scored just four goals in those six home matches, and haven’t netted more than one in a fixture.
That keeps the draw firmly on the radar. Monaco have lost their last two league matches, the most recent being a shock home reverse against Angers on Friday. But overall they have been in great shape this season, sitting second in Ligue 1 and in the Champions League have record wins over Barcelona and Red Star, plus a draw away at Dinamo Zagreb. There’s no head-to-head to lean on for this fixture, which does look like being tight given Bologna’s proven resilience on home turf this season.
This UEFA Champions League match between Bologna and Monaco will be played on Nov 5, 2024 and kick off at 20:00. Check below for our tipsters best Bologna vs Monaco prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
