Bologna look to Marco Di Vaio
Bologna hope talismanic captain Marco Di Vaio can help them rediscover their winning form when they host Chievo.
The teams meet at the Renato Dall' Ara stadium looking for their first triumph of a season where their principal objectives are merely to stay in the division.
The hosts have reason to be optimistic with Di Vaio set to make his season debut against Chievo.
The veteran striker has recovered from a foot injury and is set to lead the Rossoblu's forward line with Osvaldo.
Di Vaio proved crucial to the Rossoblu avoiding the drop last season, when he finished as the third top scorer in Serie A with 24 goals.
"I was disappointed to miss out on the first two games of the campaign," said Di Vaio. "I can't wait to return to play and hopefully guide my team to victory against Chievo."
The hosts are determined to give a better performance in front of their home fans after draws against Fiorentina and promoted side Bari in their past two games.
"We need to keep working hard," said Di Vaio. "There is room for improvement.
"I think we have a stronger team than we had last season.
"But we need to have more fluidity in our game and be less fearful when we go forward."
Giuseppe Papadopulo's men must improve soon considering the daunting fixtures they will face in the coming weeks, as they travel to the San Siro to meet AC Milan next week before taking on Juventus in Turin at the end of the month.
That difficult fixture list means that a victory against Chievo is a must for Bologna.
"A victory on Sunday would be a big boost in confidence considering the challenging calendar we face later this month," said Di Vaio.
"But Chievo have yet to collect a point and we know we will have to work hard.
"We have taken two points in the last two games and we want to continue our unbeaten run."
Anything but a defeat would be a good result for rivals Chievo.
The Flying Donkeys had a difficult start to the campaign losing 1-0 at Juventus in their Serie A opener before falling to a 2-1 defeat against Lazio in the last round.
The men from Verona played for the last 20 minutes of the game with a numerical advantage but failed to take advantage against the Roman side.
Chievo coach Domenico Di Carlo preferred to focus on the positives.
"I am satisfied with my team's performance," he said. "My team showed a battling spirit and created plenty of goalscoring chances.
"All in all, it was a positive performance from my players.
"If we play as well as we did against Lazio there is no reason why we cannot claim our first win of the tournament at Bologna this weekend.".
The good news for Di Carlo is that he will have all his players available.
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