Atalanta vs AC Milan prediction: ITALY: Serie A betting tips on match 2022-08-20 18:45.
Atalanta’s bid to return to Serie A’s (SA) top seven got off to the perfect start with a 2-0 win over Sampdoria and their recruitment drive shows no sign of abating either with Brandon Soppy and Paulo Azzi reportedly on their way to join the cavalry. Udinese right-back Soppy could therefore end up lining up against AC Milan for the second time in as many weeks!
Doing so once is daunting enough, but as Atalanta aim to emulate their last two campaigns by avoiding defeat in their first home league game of the season (W1, D1), they’ll have to overcome a poor record in the last six H2Hs they’ve hosted (W1, D2, L3). That means they’ll likely start this one as outsiders, which doesn’t bode well after winning none of the home league matches last term in which they weren’t favourites (D2, L1).
Being the most-fancied side shouldn’t be a burden for Milan, who launched their title defence by beating Udinese 4-2 with new signings Divock Origi and Charles De Ketelaere coming off the bench. Both impressed despite limited opportunities and could feature more prominently here if manager Stefano Pioli looks to shuffle his attacking options.
No team boasted a better SA away record than the Rossoneri last term (W14, D4, L1), as they picked up more points away (46) than they did at home (40)! That lone loss came back in November (W9, D3 since) and given they won their last two visits here, also leading at the break on both occasions, they should be confident of opening the campaign with two straight SA wins for a third consecutive season.
Players to watch: Ademola Lookman marked his Atalanta debut with a late goal but three of his last five club strikes were match-openers while Brahim DĂaz has only lost one of his 12 goalscoring appearances for Milan (W11).
Hot streak: Atalanta haven’t scored first in any of their last six SA home matches (D3, L3).