Our prediction for this Serie A match:
After sharing the spoils with Verona at the weekend, Fiorentina will look to move closer to the Europa League berth when they host Bologna to their Stadio Artemio Franchi. The Viola continue life without new Juve star Dusan Vlahovic, and, in his absence, January signing Krzysztof Piatek will continue to lead the line for the hosts. Bonaventura is banned for the hosts, while Odriozola is out of contention with injury.
The Rossoblu, on the other hand, are safe for now as they are 11 points clear of the relegation zone. Sinisa Mihajlovic’s men are stuck in the middle of the table, and given their anything but good away record, we predict that Fiorentina are going to emerge triumphant in Sunday’s clash. To make things even worse for the visitors, Theate misses the match through suspension, while all Dominguez, Vignato, Kingsley, Santander, and Bonifazi remain in the recovery room. Former West Ham ace Marko Arnautovic is a major doubt.
Highlighted Player (Erick Pulgar):
Eric Pulgar is a Chilean international who started his senior career at Deportes Antofagasta. Pulgar is a 186-cm-tall midfielder, who is capable of playing as a centre back as well and he is well known for his speed. After making 38 league appearances for the club he joined fellow Chilean outfit Universidad Catolica in 2014.
The deal was confirmed on 28 June, 2014 and the Chilean defender joined los Cruzados for a fee of $ 500 000. In 2015 he decided to move to Europe and he signed a contract with Bologna for an undisclosed fee. The deal was sealed on 20 August. Erick Pulgar represented Chile at the 2016 Copa America, but he made no more than one appearance for La Roja at the tournament in USA.
He came on as a substitute to replace injured midfielder Pablo Hernandez in a 2-0 win over Colombia. It is well known that Chile won the 2016 Copa America, beating star-studded Argentina in the title game.
Highlighted Team (Bologna):
Bologna FC 1909 is an Italian football club founded in 1909 and playing in the Serie A. The club hosts its games in the Stadio Renato Dall’Ara which holds a capacity of 40500 seats. The stadium is named after their former chairman. The club plays its home games in the Stadio Renato Dall’Ara since 1927.
The club colors of Bologna are blue and red and is one of the most successful football clubs in Italy winning the Serie A 7times and the Coppa Italia 2 times in the clubs history. Lately Bologna is not performing like their glory times anymore. The club is often relegated to the Serie B but manages to get back to the Serie A on and off. Another important person in the club is Joey Saputo, Canadian but with Italian roots, which is owner of Bologna.
Well known football players that wore the blue red colors of Bologna in their career are: Falcone, Dokovic, Nakata, Gillet, Pagliuca, Vieri and Zagorakis.