The line-ups are in as Domenico Tedesco and Gennaro Gattuso get their Serie A careers with Bologna and Lazio underway at the Dall’Ara on Monday evening.
This is the penultimate fixture in the first week of 2026-27 Serie A matches. Reigning champions Inter have set the pace to match with a 4-1 victory over Monza on Saturday, although Napoli, Lecce, Milan, Atalanta, Juventus and Cagliari have also got off to winning starts. Udinese 1-1 Como is the only game to have ended level so far this season.
Both sides will be hoping to improve on their 2025-26 finishes: Bologna ended last term in eighth place, three points shy of a Conference League spot, whilst Lazio finished one position and three points lower than the Rossoblu in ninth.
Bologna and Lazio have both had relatively steady summer transfer windows. The Rossoblu have lost Santiago Castro to Roma and Jhon Lucumi to Juventus and have brought in two new attackers in Roberto Piccoli and Artem Dovbyk, plus midfielder Mikel Amondarain and left-back Rahim Alhassane.
Lazio, meanwhile, have welcomed Davide Frattesi on loan with a buy option from Inter, as well as centre-back Josip Sutalo from Ajax, plus defenders Danilho Doekhi and Alfonso Pedraza on free transfers.
Both sides have new head coaches for the start of the 2026-27 season as well: Bologna have appointed Domenico Tedesco to replace Vincenzo Italiano, whilst former Italy national team head coach Gennaro Gattuso has replaced Maurizio Sarri in the Lazio dugout.
Tedesco has named new signing Piccoli at centre-forward for Monday’s clash against Lazio, and he will be flanked by Riccardo Orsolini to his right and Nicolo Cambiaghi to his left.
Gattuso starts with new signings Doekhi and Pedraza in defence, but otherwise, it is a relatively familiar Lazio XI with Fisayo Dele-Bashiru, Nicolo Rovella and Kenneth Taylor in midfield with Matteo Cancellieri, Boulaye Dia and Mattia Zaccagni in attack.
Kick-off is due at 17.30 BST.
Bologna vs. Lazio confirmed line-ups
Bologna (4-3-3): Skorupski; Zortea, Heggem, Helland, Miranda; El Azzouzi, Ferguson, Odgaard; Orsolini, Piccoli, Cambiaghi.
Lazio (4-3-3): Mandas; Marusic, Doekhi, Provstgaard, Pedraza; Dele-Bashiru, Rovella, Taylor; Cancellieri, Dia, Zaccagni.
