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Bologna v Fulham - Match Preview
last updated Tuesday 13th August 2002, 5:45 PM
Fulham take their penultimate step towards a UEFA Cup spot on Tuesday evening in the first leg of the Intertoto Cup Final against Bologna.
Fulham arrived in Italy on Monday afternoon and trained at the stadium of Renato Dall' Ara during the evening
Boss Jean Tigana is likely to stay with his prefered 4-3-1-2 with the hard working central diamond of Sean Davis, Luis Boa Morte, Sylvain Legwinski and Steed Malbranque.
In attack Jean Tigana is ready to place his faith in Barry Hayles, who was set for a £2m move to West Brom until he came off the bench to score his first away goal in a year against Sochaux last week and send Fulham into the InterToto Final.
Now Hayles, who has been kept out of the team by Louis Saha and Steve Marlet, is hoping to continue his hot streak - and he has no intention of quitting Craven Cottage. "The goal last week was important for me and I want to score more," he said. "I want to stay at Fulham and fight for my place and I want to give the manager a big selection headache. "Hopefully I can get a chance in Bologna and score again - and give him something to think about."
The Cottagers will start the match without Republic of Ireland international Steve Finnan who is still struggling with a twisted ankle.
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Renato Dall' Ara
13th August 2002 |
Bologna |
Fulham |
| Games |
34 |
38 |
| HOME |
| Games Won |
12 |
7 |
| Games Drawn |
2 |
7 |
| Games lost |
3 |
5 |
| Goals scored |
28 |
21 |
| Ave goals per game |
1.65 |
1.11 |
| Goals conceded |
17 |
16 |
| Ave goals per game |
1.00 |
0.84 |
| AWAY |
| Games Won |
3 |
3 |
| Games Drawn |
5 |
7 |
| Games lost |
9 |
9 |
| Goals scored |
12 |
15 |
| Ave goals per game |
0.71 |
0.79 |
| Goals conceded |
23 |
28 |
| Ave goals per game |
1.35 |
1.47 |
|
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MATCH BETTING ODDS
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The betting odds offered by our Bookie friends underline the difficulty Fulham face in Bologna on Tuesday evening.
The first leg of the InterToto cup final is clearly seen by most pundits as a victory for The Red and Blues of Italy's Serie A with The Cottagers being as big as 4/1 against winning.
The Italian side are regarded as being a tough nut to crack having finished seventh in Serie A last year. However Fulham have shown already in this competition that they can score home and away and defend well. On balance however The Cottagers should be happy if they to come away with a draw or a one nil defeat.
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Other absentees will be defender Martin Djetou, on loan for the season, Lee Clark, who remains on the sidelines with a continuing Achilles complaint and new signing Bologna defender Pierre Wome. The Cameroon international is not available as a work permit has to be arranged.
Assistant Manager Christian Damiano is very serious about the threat that the Italian side will pose. "Tactically and technically they are stronger than Sochaux. They have players like Signori and Cruz who are able to make a difference during the game.
"It's not such a big problem when we play away because we have a strong defence and the whole team works well defensively. But we need to get a good result and I think we will be able to score against Bologna - they are a very strong attacking team but we can also counter-attack. "We have seen many tapes of them and we will treat them with great respect. They will be a good test for us."
Bologna boss Francesco Guidolin has pinpointed Steve Marlet as Fulham's danger man ahead of the InterToto Cup clash on Tuesday evening.
The Serie A side entertain Jean Tigana's Londoners with the winner over two legs going through to the UEFA Cup.
"Fulham are a good team," said Guidolin.
"We will have to press them and not allow them to play.
"They have great physical capacity, and great athleticism.
"We will have to pay much attention to the Frenchman Marlet, one striker whose movement allows him to score many goals."
The Italians will also have taken note of Fulham's 2-0 win away at Sochaux and know that the English team will not be scared of playing against Bologna.
Probable line-up for the Red and Blues will be (3-5-2):
Pagliuca, Zaccardo, Falcon, Castellini, Nerve, Goretti, Olive, Colucci, Smit,9 Cruz, Lords.
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