Atalanta vs Udinese prediction: ITALY: Serie A betting tips on match 2024-01-26 14:00.
Serie A top-four hopefuls Atalanta put five goals past Frosinone in their last league match, including netting three times in the opening 15 minutes, as they registered back-to-back victories after eliminating high-flying Milan in Coppa Italia action a few days earlier. It comes as no surprise then that coach Gian Piero Gasperini wasn’t too happy about their unwanted break last weekend due to their opposition (Inter) being engaged in Super Cup duties in Saudi Arabia.
Due to their fine recent form of just one loss across nine competitive games, Atalanta start this latest matchday sat only a point behind fourth-placed Fiorentina, and given that they’re currently on a four-game winning streak at home in Serie A, La Dea will be confident of leapfrogging them – at least temporarily here. Their offensive form has aided that strong return on home soil in particular, as they’ve scored 13 goals during that run for an overall total of 22 goals at Gewiss Stadium this season, the third best home tally in Serie A.
It hasn’t been a great start to 2024 for relegation-threatened Udinese who have failed to win each of their three Serie A matches to date (D1, L2), a run which includes a last gasp 3-2 defeat to Milan last time out. That match-up was overshadowed by some ugly scenes in the crowd as Milan goalkeeper Mike Maignan suffered racist abuse from some Udinese fans and briefly left the pitch, with the club promising to ban those fans for life when identified.
Despite the Serie A draw kings (D12) proving tough to beat on numerous occasions this term, the fact remains that they start this round only a point above the relegation zone and with only one win across their last ten outings (D5, L4). Interestingly, four of the last five H2Hs have also ended in a draw!
Players to watch: With top-scorer Ademola Lookman away on international duties, Atalanta will look to Teun Koopmeiners for a good start as he’s scored six of his last seven league goals in the first half. Meanwhile, Florian Thauvin has netted each of his four Serie A goals this term after the break, including two in his last two outings.
Hot stat: Atalanta have scored a league-high 15 second half goals this term.