Relegation-threatened Frosinone could slide into the bottom three this weekend if they are beaten by high-flying Bologna in Sunday's Serie A action at Stadio Benito Stirpe.
Despite a wretched sequence of results heading into gameweek 31, Eusebio Di Francesco's men have managed to stay outside the relegation places, but that could change if the league's fourth-placed side notch their 17th victory in 2023-24.
Match preview
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All things considered, the average observer would be surprised that Frosinone have managed to avoid sliding into the bottom three despite winning one of their preceding 17 Serie A fixtures — January's 3-1 success over Cagliari.
That triumph over another side that gained promotion from Serie B has been followed by a nine-game winless run (six defeats), even if Di Francesco's men battled to a 1-1 draw at Genoa last time out.
While the recent drought without a victory is a portend for the rest of the Canaries' return to the big time, their battling qualities in 3-2 losses to AC Milan, Juventus and Lazio underlines the home side's inclination to avoid rolling over to superior opposition.
This is underscored by their last three one-goal margin defeats — a 3-2 loss to Juventus, a 1-0 defeat by Fiorentina and another 3-2 reverse against Lazio — since Fiorentina (5-1) and Roma (3-0) secured commanding victories over the 17th-placed side.
The Canaries could drop into the bottom three this weekend if they lose to Thiago Motta's side and Empoli better their result as both sides are level on 25 points before round 31. Second-bottom Sassuolo (24 points) getting a positive result at nearly doomed Salernitana could lead to that undesirable outcome.
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Bologna are not expected to be in anything less than their business-like manner on Sunday, with Motta's troops keen to record their fourth consecutive away triumph in Serie A.
The Champions League-chasing Rossoblu may have struggled on their travels before the turn of the year, winning just one road game — 2-1 at cellar-dwelling Salernitana in December — but they have gone four undefeated since January 14's 2-1 defeat by Cagliari, securing a commendable 2-2 draw with Milan, and nicking one-goal victories against Lazio (2-1), Atalanta (2-1) and Empoli (1-0).
Having seemingly found some consistency on their travels at a fitting time this term, Motta's team should see out continental qualification for next season.
While recent history shows Bologna have not scored on their recent two visits to Frosinone, this iteration of Bologna are a different beast to previous sides, possibly dismissing the head-to-head for a club that have accrued more points (24) than all but Inter Milan (25) since the start of February.
A five-point advantage on fifth-placed Roma means the Rossoblu could lose this weekend and still stay in the top four, but Motta's team have loftier ambitions and aim to leapfrog third-placed Juventus, whom they trail by two points in the table.
Team News
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Di Francesco is unlikely to have Francesco Gelli, Kaio Jorge, Anthony Oyono, Riccardo Marchizza and Sergio Kalaj for this weekend's game against Bologna because of different injuries.
Despite Frosinone's struggles, no defender has managed more assists than Nadir Zortea (four) in 2024, with the Atalanta loanee thriving away from Bergamo since moving in mid-season.
Motta's only injury absentees are Adama Soumaoro and Sam Beukema, with the pair missing because of knee and muscle issues, respectively.
No Italian in Europe's top-five leagues has netted more than Riccardo Orsolini's 10 goals, and the attacker is one more strike from matching last season's individual best return.
Alexis Saelemaekers, who netted and assisted in Easter Monday's 3-0 win over Salernitana, aims to score in back-to-back Serie A games for the first time.
Frosinone possible starting lineup:
Turati; Lirola, Okoli, Romagnoli, Zortea; Mazzitelli, Barrenechea, Brescianini; Soule, Cheddira, Reinier
Bologna possible starting lineup:
Skorupski; Posch, Lucumi, Calafiori, Kristiansen; Freuler; Orsolini, Fabbian, Ferguson, Saelemaekers; Zirkzee
We say: Frosinone 0-1 Bologna
Despite Bologna's failure to score in their last two visits to Frosinone — a 1-0 loss in February 2016 and a goalless encounter in August 2018 — the Rossoblu should get the better of a side that have underperformed everyone else in Serie A since the start of February, picking up just two points from eight matches.
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