Bologna suffered a painful 1-0 defeat away to Atalanta in Matchday 2, conceding a 96th-minute winner from Lazar Samardzic. The Rossoblù dominated major stretches of the match, unleashing 16 total shots and forcing key saves from Carnesecchi before a late goalkeeping error by Skorupski sealed their second straight 1-0 loss.

Late transfer window movements saw winger Bangoula arrive from Werder Bremen, while winger Rowe departed for Atalanta. Bologna rely heavily on their strong head-to-head record, remaining undefeated in their last 6 meetings against Sassuolo (3 wins, 3 draws).

• Failed to score in their last 3 official matches.
• Under 2.5 goals scored in their last 3 matches.
• Undefeated in their last 6 head-to-head matches vs Sassuolo.

Sassuolo advanced to the Coppa Italia round of 16 in midweek after overcoming Frosinone on penalties following a 1-1 draw, with Berardi, Esposito, Thorstvedt, and Bakola converting cleanly. In league play, Sassuolo secured their first win by defeating Torino 1-0 through a magnificent goal from captain Domenico Berardi shortly after coming off the bench.

In transfer news, defender Duje Caleta-Car arrived on a free transfer from Lyon, while Caligara (Catania) and Iannoni (Verona) departed. Sassuolo look to reverse recent derby struggles, having picked up just 1 point in their last 3 visits to the Dall’Ara.

• Over 2.5 goals scored in 5 of their last 6 matches.
• Both Teams To Score (Goal/Goal) in 5 of their last 6 matches.
• Both Teams To Score (Goal/Goal) in 4 of their last 5 H2H games vs Bologna.