Hoping to end an historic year on a high, Bologna will welcome Hellas Verona to Stadio Renato Dall'Ara on Monday.

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Second-half strikes from Thijs Dallinga and Tommaso Pobega secured a second straight win for Bologna just before Christmas, when they followed an impressive 1-0 defeat of high-flying Fiorentina with success in Turin.

The Emilian side had more of the ball and several more attempts on target than Torino at Stadio Olimpico Grande, fully meriting maximum points.

Having previously drawn with Juventus and Benfica, after beating Venezia and Monza - the latter win took them through to the Coppa Italia quarter-finals - Bologna are enjoying their best spell of the season.

Unbeaten in their last 11 league fixtures at the Dall'Ara - keeping a clean sheet in each of the last four - Vincenzo Italiano's men are proving that last term's fifth-placed finish under Thiago Motta was no flash in the pan.

With a game in hand on many of their rivals, the Rossoblu are close behind Italy's top six and will be intent on securing more European football for next year.

Ahead of their Monday night meeting with Verona, they have come out on top twice in the clubs' last two encounters: a pair of 2-0 wins in league and cup, both of which were played on home turf.

In fact, Hellas have prevailed on just two of their last 15 top-flight visits to Bologna, coming away empty-handed on nine occasions.

Furthermore, the last time Verona won their final game of a calendar year in Serie A was way back in 2013; since then, they have taken only three points from seven matches.

History will not be on their side, then, as they attempt to inch away from the drop zone following last week's home defeat to AC Milan. That was the Gialloblu's 20th league loss of 2024, already surpassing an unwanted club record that they actually equalled last year.

Current coach Paolo Zanetti has been unable to break Verona's losing habit since arriving in the summer, while his side have conceded at least once in all of their last 14 league matches and own Serie A's worst defensive record.

Other clubs at the bottom of the table have recently parted company with their managers, but Zanetti remains in post for now and must repay such faith sooner rather than later.

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