Bologna vs Atalanta prediction: ITALY: Serie A betting tips on match 2023-01-08 19:45.
It was good news for Bologna’s finances over the winter break as a new top partner in the hair transplant industry was named, yet boss Thiago Motta was left combing over the perceived injustices upon their return to league action after a 1-0 defeat to Roma left a bitter taste. An exasperated Motta went on to suggest that players are fooling officials too often after a solitary penalty goal was the undoing of his side, but with Bologna level or on higher points than at this stage of three of their last four seasons, a top-half finish is still achievable.
Returning to the Stadio Renato Dall'Ara may be seen as a positive as they hunt that top-ten finis, with Bologna enjoying their longest run of unbeaten home league games since 2019 (W3, D1). Priced as outsiders to extend that run with another win, Bologna shouldn’t be fazed as they’re one of three Serie A (SA) sides with a 100% win-rate as home league underdogs!
Atalanta’s pre-match favouritism will do little to soothe the fears of the travelling faithful, as the Bergamo outfit have now conceded at least twice in four straight winless SA games (D1, L3) after their 2-2 draw at Spezia last time out. Should they concede twice again, it’ll be their first run of five games with opponents hitting multiple goals against them since 2008!
Currently sitting six points worse off than at this stage of last season, SA’s longest serving manager Gian Piero Gasperini recently tempered expectations for Atalanta, claiming that failure to qualify for Europe wouldn’t be a “total failure”. Luckily for Atalanta, only Napoli had picked up more away points than their 17 ahead of this round, and their away league record this season is identical to their impressive showing across the last eight away H2Hs (W5, D2, L1).
Players to watch: Marko Arnautović leads the way in SA for Bologna with eight goals, with five of those serving to open the scoring. Just one goal behind him in the standings is Atalanta’s Ademola Lookman, yet three of the Englishman’s last five scoring appearances weren’t in winning causes (W2, D1, L2).
Hot stat: Ahead of the round, Atalanta have failed to score in a joint league-low one game this season (6%).