Monza host Bologna on Thursday at 5.30pm as Serie A returns with a host of midweek fixtures. This one puts together two mid table sides striving for bigger and better things this term.

Draw

After a topsy-turvy start to the season, Monza have now drawn their last two matches 1-1. They unsurprisingly lost to Inter Milan and Atalanta on the road, beat Empoli at home and have since drawn with both Lecce and Lazio. Under Raffaele Palladino, they are a competitive outfit in the top flight and will likely finish somewhere in mid-table, well clear of the relegation zone. 

Meanwhile, Bologna have drawn three of their five matches this season, including their last three outings in all competitions. They’ve had back-to-back 0-0 draws against Verona and Napoli and there is a slight worry about the lack of goalscoring edge from this team. Judging from the results we have seen over the past two weeks, a draw between two mid-table teams at 9/4 seems easy to back.  

Under 2.5 goals

With back to back 0-0 draws for Bologna, and under 2.5 goals landing in three of Monza’s last four matches, I was expecting the under 2.5 goals price to be a lot shorter than the 4/5 on offer with Betfred. 

These two sides have both shown a lack of attacking quality this term, with Bologna managing a paltry return of three goals from their five matches so far. Monza haven’t fared much better, scoring just four times and so the unders market, or the BTTS No at EVS, both look incredibly tempting. We have gone for the under 2.5 goals on this occasion, but both picks look sensible at this moment in time.  

0-0 

Using the logic we have just explained above, but in search of the bigger price, we turn to the correct score market. If Bologna are likely to secure another shutout, then the 0-0 correct score at 9/1 feels like a huge price, given what both teams have produced so far. These are two teams that have scored just seven goals between them this season across ten matches, so they could well play out a stalemate here. 9/1 on the 0-0 feels far too generous.