Atalanta vs Fiorentina prediction: ITALY: Serie A betting tips on match 2024-09-14 13:00.
[p]Perhaps no Serie A manager wanted the recent international break more than Atalanta’s Gian Piero Gasperini, who swept aside an embarrassing 4-0 loss away to Inter Milan by declaring “our real season will begin after the pause”. Gasperini vowed to use the time to work out how to best integrate his new recruits into the setup, but could not promise that his “matchday four (side) will be better than last year’s team”. [/p]
[p]That could be of some concern here as they finished the previous season by losing 3-2 at home to upcoming opponents Fiorentina, who accompany them in the mid-table on three points. Out to avenge that in their first home outing of this Serie A season, Gasperini will also be hoping to welcome back new recruit Nicolò Zaniolo, who reportedly agreed to personal terms with Fiorentina prior to choosing Atalanta as his loan club for this season. [/p]
[p]Fiorentina fans can choose to look at their middling campaign with either an optimistic or pessimistic approach after the club drew their first five competitive games of a new season (90 minutes only) for the first time in their history. Either way, they’re now seven Serie A games without defeat across two seasons (W3, D4) despite registering just one clean sheet in that period. [/p]
[p]Failing to defeat two newly-promoted clubs certainly isn’t ideal, and it leaves them needing to significantly improve if they are to address a key area of improvement from last season. The last round 3-2 win at Atalanta, whilst likely a major source of inspiration, was their sole away victory last Serie A season against any of the seven clubs who placed higher than them (D1, L5). [/p]
[p]Players to watch: Ademola Lookman is expected to return to the lineup after being named as the only African on the 2024 Ballon d’Or shortlist. He was near-unstoppable in Bergamo late last season, scoring in three of Atalanta’s last four Serie A home games. After scoring in Fiorentina’s most recent league game, new recruit Moise Kean will set out to exorcise a curse hanging over his career – he has never beaten nor scored against Atalanta for any club (D5, L2)! [/p]
[p]Hot stat: All but three of Atalanta’s last 20 Serie A matches saw over 2.5 total goals scored. [/p]
[p][i]Written by Aaron Murphy[/i][/p]