Atalanta vs Cagliari prediction: ITALY: Serie A betting tips on match 2023-09-23 13:00.
It has been a mixed start to the new Serie A (SA) season for Atalanta (W2, L2), who lost to Fiorentina 3-2 in their last league match despite an early lead. They continued this alternating trend by beating Raków Częstochowa 2-0 on Thursday in the UEFA Europa League, and will be eager to pick up back-to-back victories for the first time since early May!
Atalanta’s only home league outing this season resulted in an impressive 3-0 win over Monza, with each of their last three SA matches in front of their own fans seeing La Dea net at least three goals (W3). However, manager Gian Piero Gasperini will have to do without the injured Gianluca Scamacca, who bagged twice against Monza, as he will be out at least for a month due to injury.
Cagliari have definitely been a bogey team recently for Atalanta as they’ve won four of the last five league matches at the Gewiss Stadium (L1), and Claudio Ranieri’s strong defensive style – which has already resulted in a goalless draw against Torino and a half-time lead against Bologna in their two away outings this term – could cause the offensively minded home side troubles again.
However, their inability to score may rear its ugly head as the Sardinians have scored just once in their opening four league games (D2, L2), with only rock-bottom Empoli doing worse in the division ahead of the weekend. Don’t write the visitors off though, as manager Ranieri holds a very positive record from his meetings with Atalanta in the dugout (W12, D9, L4).
Players to watch: Atalanta’s Teun Koopmeiners enjoys playing in front of his fans as five of his previous six SA goals have arrived at home. Ex-Atalanta player Andrea Petagna has already scored six goals against his former club since leaving in 2018, including his last SA goal in Bergamo back in June.
Hot stat: Six of Atalanta’s last seven SA matches have seen at least two first-half goals.