Bologna vs Inter Milan: Match Preview

While Inter remains in the thick of this season’s Champions League, its quest to reinforce its top-four position for next season continues with a lunchtime visit to Bologna Sunday. With the Rossoblu, Lecce, and Spezia as Inter’s upcoming opponents, the Nerazzurri have a chance to separate itself from the chasing pack, but that requires the Nerazzurri to find its form against lower sides in the table.

That’s not something we’ve seen near as often as we should have from Simone Inzaghi’s side - in 2023 Inter has lost to Empoli, tied Sampdoria and Monza, and beaten the likes of Cremonese, Verona, and Parma by just one goal.

Photo by Simone Arveda/Getty Images

The trip to Bologna gives Inter another chance at starting a winning streak and building off the momentum from Wednesday’s 1-0 win over Porto, but the 8th-place Rossoblu won’t make it easy. Thiago Motta’s side has 3 wins in their last 6 and just 3 defeats since 2023 began. Bologna plays out of a 4-2-3-1 with an eye toward keeping the ball and making things happen through the wingers and star striker Marko Anautovic. The Austrian leads the goal-scoring charts with 8 tallies, followed by perennial “is this the season he breaks out” man Riccardo Orsolini (6g, 3a), and defender Stefan Posch (4g, 1a).

Previous Results

The last time Inter visited the Renato Dall’Ara is better left unmentioned, but putting that infamous meeting last April in which Inter lost the Scudetto aside, the good guys boast a 91W-41-54L advantage in the all-time series against Bologna.

Predicted Starting XIs

Prediction: Bologna 2-3 Inter Milan

A mix of fatigue from Wednesday’s effort against Porto combined with an opponent as tricky as Bologna and the lunchtime kickoff (which Inter never seems to fare all that well in), this one might be a bit bumpier of a ride than we’d like. Nonetheless, I see Inter getting the job done by the time the dust settles, with goals from Romelu Lukaku, Lautaro Martinez, and a surprise strike from Robin Gosens giving the Nerazzurri the edge.

Forza Inter!