Both Inter Milan and Saturday's Serie A opponents Bologna meet at San Siro having registered back-to-back league wins since last month's international break.
Antonio Conte's side comprehensively swept aside Sassuolo - who had been above them in the table until that point - while mid-table Bologna took care of winless bottom team Crotone.
Match preview
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In midweek, Inter escaped from another potential Champions League catastrophe by turning to Romelu Lukaku once more to save them. The goal-hungry Belgian striker put his side two goals ahead in Monchengladbach on Tuesday, but the Nerazzurri almost contrived to blow that lead and slip out of last-16 contention.
Nonetheless, that result keeps Conte's men in with a shout in Europe and looking upwardly mobile at home, as they have ascended to second place in Serie A despite their still apparent shortcomings.
Inter have conceded at least two goals in each of their last six home games in all competitions and they have never been on a longer such run since the very beginning of Serie A in 1929.
Even boasting one of the most experienced and reliable goalkeepers around - plus several skilled centre-backs to man the back three - has not been sufficient to stem the tide for a side which are, thanks in large part to Lukaku, the top scorers in Italy.
Qualification for the Champions League knockout phase will all comes down to a clash with Shakhtar Donetsk, whom they tore apart in the Europa League semi-final last summer but currently have a two-point advantage over Conte's team.
Such a crunch encounter coming in just a few days may impact their approach to Saturday's game, so Bologna may be well placed to capitalise.
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Since Sinisa Mihajlovic's return to the Bologna bench, the Rossoblu have won two of the three Serie A meetings against Inter, as many as in the previous 25 games against the Nerazzurri - under a total of 13 different coaches.
Now, following their 2-1 success over Inter last July, Mihajlovic's men could win two consecutive league games against the Milan giants for the first time since the turn of the century. Not only that, but since the beginning of 2012, Inter have suffered four San Siro defeats against Bologna - only against Juventus have they lost as many times at home in that period.
Though it has been a relatively respectable start to the campaign, Bologna are one of just two teams that have not yet gained points against teams currently in the top half of the table, indicating comfort when facing flyweights but exposing limitations up against heavyweight opposition.
A key component in their campaign to date - with form which earned him a belated recall to the Azzurri squad last month - Rossoblu midfielder Roberto Soriano has already equalled his tally of goals from last term, with five in just nine games. In all of the Bayern Munich academy graduate's seven previous Serie A seasons, he has only scored more in 2015-16, with eight goals for Sampdoria paving the way for his move to La Liga, with Villarreal.
Soriano will perhaps fancy his chances of extending his scoring run at San Siro this Saturday, given Inter's defensive issues, but his team's hands will be full with a combative home attack, which could well wrest control of this game for the home side.
Inter Milan Serie A form: LWDDWW
Inter Milan form (all competitions): LDWLWW
Bologna Serie A form: LLWLWW
Bologna form (all competitions): WWLWLW
Team News
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Romelu Lukaku was rested against Sassuolo last weekend but was surprisingly not missed too badly by an Inter side who have become reliant on his penalty box prowess. Argentina striker Lautaro Martinez may, therefore, be partnered by Alexis Sanchez up front once again, though key midfielder Nicolo Barella is set to be rested due to a calf injury and Stefano Sensi has also been ruled out.
Since earning more game time of late, Matteo Darmian has weighed with a goal and an assist in two consecutive starts, though Achraf Hakimi came off the bench in Monchengladbach to great effect and may be ready for a return to Antonio Conte's starting XI.
Bologna will sorely miss impressive winger Riccardo Orsolini, who picked up a muscle strain during their win over Crotone - Nicola Sansone is set to deputise.
Sinisa Mihajlovic will also have to make do without Mitchell Dijks, Andreas Skov Olsen and former Copenhagen striker Federico Santander due to injury, as veteran Rodrigo Palacio leads the line against his former side.
Inter Milan possible starting lineup:
Handanovic; Skriniar, De Vrij, Bastoni; Hakimi, Gagliardini, Brozovic, Vidal, Young; Sanchez, Martinez
Bologna possible starting lineup:
Skorupski; De Silvestri, Tomiyasu, Danilo, Denswil; Schouten, Svanberg; Sansone, Soriano, Barrow; Palacio
We say: Inter Milan 2-1 Bologna
Inter's defensive deficiencies have undermined their efforts this term, so in-form Bologna can certainly cause the Nerazzuri some difficulties in that department.
However, their abundance of ability in the final third makes the home side strong favourites to claim the win needed to keep pace with San Siro co-tenants AC Milan.
Top betting tip
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 Inter Milan win with a probability of 66.37%. A draw had a probability of 18.6% and a win for Bologna had a probability of 15.03%.
The most likely scoreline for a Inter Milan win was 2-0 with a probability of 9.84%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (9.78%) and 1-0 (8.61%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (8.56%), while for a Bologna win it was 1-2 (4.25%). The actual scoreline of 3-1 was predicted with a 7.4% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Inter Milan would win this match.
