Bologna welcome Empoli to the Stadio Renato Dall’Ara for the semi-final second leg of the Coppa Italia

Bologna welcome Empoli to the Stadio Renato Dall’Ara for the semi-final second leg of the Coppa Italia. The hosts hold a 3-0 advantage from the first clash and are expected to finish the job on Thursday night.

Bologna head into this matchup in high spirits following a 1-0 home league win against Inter Milan. That result means Vincenzo Italiano’s men are now unbeaten in eight of the last nine matches in all competitions, picking up seven wins in that run.

A solid defence has been at the heart of Bologna’s Coppa Italia campaign as they have kept clean sheets in all three matches so far. They have also won the first half in two of their three matches in the competition.

Empoli come into this game off the back of a 2-2 home league draw against Venezia. That result means they are yet to secure a regulation time win in their last 20 matches, suffering 13 defeats in that run.

Roberto D’Aversa’s men have had attacking problems lately, failing to score in three of their last four matches. They have also struggled on their travels and are winless in nine of their last nine away matches in all competitions, losing six times in that run.

Bologna and Empoli have seven wins each and nine draws with 23 previous matches. However, the hosts are unbeaten in the last five meetings, claiming three wins in that run, including the 3-0 victory in the Coppa Italia semi-final first leg.

Bologna will be without Lewis Ferguson, Davide Calabria and first-choice goalkeeper Lukasz Skorupski due to injury. However, in the absence of Skorupski, Federico Ravaglia should start in goal while Orsolini and Santiago Castro are expected to start up front.

Youssef Maleh, Christian Kouame, Szymon Zurkowski, Nicolas Haas, Saba Sazonov and Pietro Pellegri are all unavailable for Empoli due to several knocks. However, Luca Marianucci, Lorenzo Tosto and Liam Henderson are all expected to start.

Bologna: Ravaglia, De Silvestri, Beukema, Lucumi, Lykogiannis, Moro, Pobega, Orsolini, Fabbian, Cambiaghi, Castro.
Empoli: Seghetti, De Sciglio, Marianucci, Tosto; Gyasi, Henderson, Kovalenko, Pezzella, Solbakken, Fazzini, Colombo.