Fiorentina vs Atalanta prediction: ITALY: Serie A betting tips on match 2023-09-16 16:00.
With the international break providing a two-week pause between fixtures, Fiorentina have had plenty of time to get past their 4-0 defeat away to Inter Milan on the third matchday. It was their heaviest Serie A (SA) losing margin in 32 games and head coach Vincenzo Italiano vowed after the match that his side “will work hard so that we never see a Viola performance like this again”.
The Fiorentina faithful may not have to rely on Italiano’s words for optimism ahead of this fixture as their side have been strong at the Stadio Artemio Franchi, where they have not been defeated in league football since February (W5, D4 ). Similarly, ‘La Viola’ have failed to score in only one of their last 15 SA home games and have kept the fans entertained with 11 goals from their last four in Florence.
Atalanta’s defensive line and goalkeeper Juan Musso may therefore have a busy evening on Sunday as recording shutouts away from home has not been a habit of theirs. From their last 15 SA away games, Gian Piero Gasperini’s team have kept only two clean sheets, although one of those did come in their opening game of this season in a 2-0 victory against Sassuolo.
Gasperini’s side was too strong for Monza in their last game (a comfortable 3-0 home win) and ahead of this round of matches were up in fifth place in the table, the exact spot where they finished last season’s campaign. Recent games against Fiorentina have not been easy for Atalanta, with only one victory from their last five (W1, D1, L3), and they will need to improve on that if they are to maintain their spot in the upper reaches of the table after this match.
Players to watch: Nicolás González is off to a fine start to his 2023/24 season with two league goals and a brace against Rapid Vienna in the Europa League Conference Play-off round. He returns to Florence after hitting Argentina’s third goal in their 3-0 win over Bolivia on Tuesday. Gianluca Scamacca struck two goals in the win over Monza, his first since joining Atalanta this summer. He also scored in his last SA visit to the Stadio Artemio Franchi in a 2-2 draw with Sassuolo in 2021/22.
Hot stat: Atalanta have drawn only one of their last 11 SA away fixtures (W4, D1, L6).