NAPOLI SEEKS TO STOP DREAM RUN: BATTLE OF THE LEAGUE'S TWO BEST DEFENDING TEAMS
Bologna - Napoli
April 7th, 2025
Renato Dall'Ara Stadium will witness one of the most important matches of this Serie A round on Monday evening. The home side Bologna is experiencing a fantastic period under Vincenzo Italiano's leadership, having won their last five league matches. In the history of Italy's top flight, Rossoblu have managed to record a longer winning streak only three times - six consecutive wins under Thiago Motta between February and March 2024, six wins under Luis Carniglia in April and May 1967, and ten consecutive wins under Fulvio Bernardini between November 1963 and February 1964.
Bologna can also boast excellent home form. The Red-Blues have won six consecutive league matches at their stadium. The last time they managed to win more home duels in a row was between March and August 2019, when they recorded eight wins under the legendary Sinisa Mihajlović.
Since the beginning of the calendar year, Bologna has been the best scoring team in the entire Serie A. With 25 goals scored in 2025, the Emilians are the most productive team in the competition. Only AS Roma has gained more points (32) than Bologna (28 in 13 matches - 8 wins, 4 draws, 1 loss) during this period.
Napoli arrives after an important victory over AC Milan and is seeking their first away win since January, when they triumphed at Atalanta's ground. Since then, they have drawn three times and lost once away from home. If the Partenopei were to succeed now, it would be the first time since the turn of the year that they would win at least two league matches in a row - at that time under Walter Mazzarri's leadership, they recorded seven consecutive wins.
The historical balance speaks clearly in favor of the visitors. Napoli has scored the most goals against Bologna in Serie A history (197) and achieved 50 victories in 131 mutual matches (39 draws, 42 losses). The Azzurri have recorded more wins in the Italian league only against Lazio (54), Fiorentina (54), and Turin (52).
In recent years, Napoli has been an almost unbeatable opponent for Bologna. In the last ten league duels, Rossoblu have managed to win only once - in May 2024 at Diego Maradona Stadium (2-0). At home, Bologna has defeated Naples in the last eight matches only once - in May 2019 under Mihajlović, when Federico Santander scored two goals and Blerim Dzemaili added a third.
Monday's duel will offer a clash between the two best defending teams in the entire Serie A. Bologna and Napoli face the fewest shots in the league - the Emilian side 262 shots (83 on target), the Neapolitan 296 shots (85 on target).
Bologna's main star is Riccardo Orsolini, who in the current season has matched his record of 11 goals from the 2022/23 season. Orsolini, with 32 goals, is the best Italian scorer of the last three Serie A seasons. The paradox, however, is that Napoli is the only team against which he has failed to either score or assist in 11 mutual matches.
The offensive strength of the visitors is represented by Romelu Lukaku, who has an excellent record against Bologna. In five matches against this opponent, he has scored five goals, which means an average of one goal every 81 minutes. The Belgian striker has better minute productivity in Serie A only against Benevento (a goal every 37 minutes - 4 goals in 2 matches). Moreover, in 2025, he has been involved in nine goals (5 scored, 4 assisted), which is the second-best result in the league after Mateo Retegui (11).
We thank OPTA for providing the statistical data.
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