Napoli will be aiming to keep the pressure on fifth-placed Roma when they travel to Bologna for Wednesday's Serie A clash.
The two clubs both shared the spoils in their respective fixtures at the weekend, with Bologna drawing 2-2 with Parma while Napoli were held by AC Milan by the same scoreline.
Match preview
© Reuters
Bologna appeared destined to take all three points against Parma and continue their charge for a top-half finish, but the game ended in dramatic fashion as Jasmin Kurtic and Roberto Inglese's injury time goals saw Parma rescue a point at the Stadio Ennio Tardini.
Sinisa Mihajlovic's side were already 2-0 up inside 16 minutes following goals from Danilo and Roberto Soriano, but Bologna threw away their comfortable lead in the dying embers of the game and now sit 10th in the table after 32 matches.
I Rossoblu only need one more win to better their points tally from the 2018-19 campaign, though, and Mihajlovic's men have now only tasted defeat once in their last five league matches.
However, both of Bologna's wins following the restart have come on their travels, and I Rossoblu will be aiming to pick up just their second victory on home soil since the turn of the year when Napoli pay a visit to the Stadio Renato Dall'Ara.
© Reuters
Meanwhile, Napoli's 2-2 draw with AC Milan was the first time since December that a league game featuring Gennaro Gattuso's men finished all square.
The former Milan stalwart was forced to witness his side succumb to a Franck Kessie penalty 73 minutes into the game, and if Napoli's top four hopes were slim before the game, they are practically nonexistent now.
Indeed, Gattuso's side currently lie 13 points adrift of fourth-placed Inter Milan - who have a game in hand - and Napoli could be 15 points off the pace if Inter leapfrog Atalanta by picking all three points against Torino on Monday.
Of course, Napoli have already secured a route into Europe by means of their Coppa Italia triumph, but a poor string of results over the autumn and winter months damaged their Champions League hopes early on.
Nevertheless, the recent form of Gli Azzurri speaks for itself - Gattuso's side have enjoyed seven victories from their last nine Serie A outings, although Bologna have triumphed in the last two meetings between the two clubs.
Bologna Serie A form: LWLWLD
Napoli Serie A form: WWLWWD
Team News
© Reuters
Soriano returned to the Bologna side sooner than anticipated after seeing his proposed two-game ban reduced following an appeal, but Andrea Poli and Federico Santander are nursing injures and are therefore unavailable.
Centre-back Mattia Bani was forced off just before the half-time whistle against Parma, but Stefano Denswil makes a timely return from a yellow card suspension and is in line to deputise in defence.
Veteran striker Rodrigo Palacio will be hoping for a recall to the starting XI, meaning Musa Barrow may revert to a wide role after failing to continue his goalscoring streak at the weekend.
In contrast, Napoli boast a clean bill of health before they make the journey to the Stadio Renato Dall'Ara.
Diego Demme returned from suspension off the bench against Milan and will be yearning for a start in midweek, while Hirving Lozano and Arkadiusz Milik are both options up top should Gattuso opt to rotate.
Bologna possible starting lineup:
Skorupski; Tomiyasu, Denswil, Danilo, Dijks; Medel, Svanberg; Orsolini, Soriano, Barrow; Palacio
Napoli possible starting lineup:
Ospina; Di Lorenzo, Koulibaly, Maksimovic, Rui; Demme, Ruiz, Zielinski; Lozano, Mertens, Insigne
We say: Bologna 1-2 Napoli
Bologna ought to feel capable of giving Napoli a good run for their money, but despite the disappointing draw with Milan, the visitors have otherwise been in terrific form as of late and we expect Gattuso's men to keep that run going with another three points on Wednesday.
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Napoli win with a probability of 50.07%. A win for Bologna had a probability of 26.41% and a draw had a probability of 23.5%.
The most likely scoreline for a Napoli win was 1-2 with a probability of 9.6%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 0-1 (9.06%) and 0-2 (7.94%). The likeliest Bologna win was 2-1 (6.64%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (10.96%). The actual scoreline of 1-1 was predicted with a 11% likelihood.
