Atalanta vs Lecce prediction: ITALY: Serie A betting tips on match 2023-02-18 11:30.
Atalanta continued their impressive start to the calendar year by defeating fellow Serie A (SA) top-four hopefuls Lazio 2-0 in a game that had both goalkeepers aggregate a season-high 13 saves. The result left Atalanta boss Gian Piero Gasperini reveling in “our best performance of the season”, a win that took his side to 14 points in 2023 (W4, D2, L1), with only league leaders Napoli earning more.
Their famous scoring prowess has returned with La Dea averaging 2.71 goals per match over that seven-game period. This surge has helped overturn a three-game losing streak with three consecutive competitive wins at this venue, aggregating 15 goals in those victories! The hosts will be keen to see that scoring run continue as they look to extend a proud record of having never lost a home top-flight match to Lecce since March 1994 (W4, D5).
The visitors are likely to go all out to break that record as a win here would see them notch a SA season H2H double for only the second time ever after winning the reverse fixture 2-1 at home. A win would also see Lecce post back-to-back away league victories for the first time since September 2019, following a win on their last SA road trip to Cremonese.
A hard-fought 1-1 draw against Roma last weekend saw Lecce extend a ten-game period of league football (W4, D4, L2) that was steady without being spectacular, earning praise from coach Marco Baroni that “the group wants to grow.” The mid-table side has held its own against current top-six sides during that run (W2, D2) too, which suggests they might not get bullied easily on this trip.
Players to watch: A goal from Teun Koopmeiners could be good news for home fans with his seven goal-scoring SA appearances all coming in Atalanta wins. One player from the Lecce camp who could enjoy this trip is Federico Di Francesco, who has a personal-best four SA H2H goals including their second in the reverse fixture.
Hot streak: The last eight SA H2Hs at this venue have seen the half-time result replicated at the final whistle.