With 15 straight wins - a new club record - Juventus have now completed their impressive ascent from the bottom half of the table to its summit. La Vecchia Signora's win over Napoli saw them finally catch and overtake the Partenopei to find themselves in top spot for the first time all season. With Napoli not playing AC Milan until Monday, the Bianconeri have a good opportunity to temporarily widen that gap to four points as they take on Bologna, but they will be facing a team who will be eager to further improve after a difficult start.
Bologna
The arrival of Roberto Donadoni has been crucial in Bologna's mini-renaissance as of late. Prior to his arrival, the Rossoblu were sitting in the relegation zone; since then, they have won eight out of their past 15 matches, including three in their last five. Although there have been some hiccups along the way, Bologna's improved form has seen them climb from the bottom three into a solid tenth place, and there is still room for improvement as things are pretty tight in the middle of the table.
On the other handy, a loss could see them drop back down a few places, and they will be hoping that their opponents will be too distracted with their upcoming clash with Bayern Munich in order to nick a point - or all three - off the reigning Scudetto champions. It will be an interesting game for Emanuele Giaccherini, who also has seen his fortunes improve since moving to his current club, and the Italian international will be keen on putting on a good show against his former employers in order to earn himself a spot with the Italian NT at the upcoming EURO tournament.
Donadoni will only be missing the services of Luca Rossettini due to injury, meaning that he can rely on pretty much the same starting XI used in their win against Udinese. Although goalkeeper Antonio Mirante missed out on the clash against the Zebrette due to an injury, he will be expected to re-claim his spot between the posts for this fixture.
Juventus
With their huge clash against Bayern Munich coming up, Massimiliano Allegri could opt to rotate his squad in order to keep some of Juve's key players fresh for next week. Having now edged slightly ahead of Napoli to seize top spot for the first time, the Bianconeri have risen from being threatened with relegation to in a good position to clinch their fifth straight Scudetto. Interestingly enough, it was not too long ago that many writers were already declaring them down and out of the race, but now they must be eating their words as it's really not all over until La Vecchia Signora sings.
Juventus will come into this game not with just an impressive six consecutive clean sheets but also have scored at least two goals in their past eight away matches. In addition, the Bianconeri have not lost to the Rossoblu since February 26, 2011, when they were defeated 2-0 in Turin. Unlike Donadoni, who will have most of his squad available, Allegri will be dealing with injuries to some of his important players. Giorgio Chiellini, Mario Mandzukic, and Kwadwo Asamoah all missed out on the match against Napoli; however the first two could play some role in the match versus die Roten next week.
Fortunately for the side, Leonardo Bonucci, who left the game early against the Partenopei due to injury has been declared fit, and new signing Mario Lemina is back in the squad since suffering an injury back on October 28th - which also happens to be the last time Juventus lost a match. Although he participated in the game against Napoli, Sami Khedira will play no part in this fixture as his manager has opted to rest him due to their European commitments.
All in all, Allegri will face a tricky choice as to how and who he will choose to play as Juventus surely will not want to lose their momentum now, but at the same time, will need to avoid any additional injuries before taking on Pep Guardiola's troops in a few days' time.
Which channel is broadcasting Bologna vs Juventus on TV or Online?
As noted before, Bologna have lost against Juventus in their past five meetings across all competitions, and will be hoping that European distractions will help them in earning a positive result in front of their own fans. However, if you are too far away to head to the Stadio Renato Dall'Ara, no worries. LiveSoccerTV.com has plenty of choices to view this match via your TV, computer, phone, or tablet.
Here are some options for fans living elsewhere in Italy and in the following countries:
- In the USA at 14.45 EST on: beIN SPORTS CONNECT U.S.A., beIN Sports USA, fuboTV, beIN Sports en Español
- In Italy at 20.45 CET on: SKY Go Italia, Sky Calcio 1, Sky Supercalcio HD
- In the UK at 19.45 GMT on: BT Sport Live Streaming, BT Sport Europe
- In Canada at 14.45 ET on: beIN SPORTS CONNECT Canada, beIN Sports Canada, beIN Sports en Español
Live elsewhere? Check out our special Bologna vs Juventus broadcast page for viewing times and options for wherever you are currently based.
*Note: Live broadcast data is subject to change*
Match details, result and original broadcast info
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