Liverpool v Bologna team news: What we can expect from Champions League opponents

Liverpool welcome Italian side Bologna to Anfield on Wednesday night for their second game of the season in the revamped Champions League league phase.

After beating Milan 3-1 at the San Siro, Liverpool will welcome another Serie A outfit as they look to secure their status in the next round of Europe as early as possible. But who are their opponents?

Bologna are making a long-awaited return to the top level of European football, with their only ever interaction in the European Cup coming in the 1964-65 season. After finishing 5th in Serie A last year - their highest-placed finished since 1970-71 - Bologna started their European campaign with a 0-0 draw at home to Shakhtar Donetsk. The Italians saved a Shakhtar penalty four minutes into the game.

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Injuries & Suspensions

Their side, however, has seen an unfortunate amount of turnover from the team they exceeded all expectations last season. For this visit, they will be without captain, talisman and Scottish international Lewis Ferguson, who has been recovering from a cruciate injury in his knee since April this year. Ferguson was the creative spark in the team for the majority of last season and would have been an interesting proposition for Virgil van Dijk et. al. to get to grips with.

I Rossoblù are also without Morocco international and defensive midfielder Oussama El Azzouzi, who has been nursing a knee injury since the start of the season, as well as new signings Nicolò Cambiaghi - the attacker signed from Atalanta - and Tommaso Pobega, brought in from Milan, both of whom also are dealing with knee issues.

Bologna's Bigger Losses

Bologna’s biggest losses, however, or more of the permanent variety from last season. Their success was predicated largely on the unique free-positioning system of manager Thiago Motta. To simplify it, the former Barcelona and Juventus man set his players up last season to vacate spaces that their positions would ‘traditionally’ occupy and then allow players from other positions to move into it with the ball, confusing what opponents would usually expect from a team. No two players were more vital to this system than defender Riccardo Calafiori, who departed in a £42 million move to Arsenal and is now scoring screamers against Manchester City, and striker Joshua Zirkzee who scored on his debut after a £35m move to Manchester United.

Importantly, Motta himself also left the north east, heading west to become manager of Juventus. Bologna replaced him with Fiorentina boss Vincenzo Italiano.

What can we expect?

The side currently sit 13th in Serie A with one win from their opening seven games. They have been dictating play less this season, averaging 639 touches per game compared to 697 last season, but with more coming in the attacking third (152.86 p/90 this season vs. 141.23 last season). This speaks to more of a directness to their play which hopefully can be mitigated by the presence of Ibrahima Konaté, who is leading the Premier League in aerial duels won.

Bologna’s line is now lead by Santiago Castro, a powerful Argentinian striker who tends to receive the ball with back to goal, shooting from distance or trying to bully defenders into goalscoring positions. Their midfield is dictated by Swiss internationals Remo Freuler (formerly of Nottingham Forest) and Michel Aebischer, who impressed at the Euros this summer. Riccardo Orsolini provides a threat from out wide, as does Aston Villa loanee Samuel Iling-Junior. In playing a high line and a willingness to get the ball forward quickly, Liverpool’s counter-press and midfield transition will be crucial if they are to get three points from the Italians.