Lecce vs Atalanta prediction: ITALY: Serie A betting tips on match 2024-05-17 16:00.
[p]Results going their way elsewhere meant that Lecce‘s top-flight status was confirmed even despite losing their home match last time out against Udinese (2-0). That was their first defeat in five league outings (W2, D2) and just their second since the appointment of manager Luca Gotti (W3, D3), hinting that the future could look much better for the club under his charge. [/p]
[p]Gotti admitted he was happy that he’d been able to secure the club’s Serie A status following that defeat, but that didn’t stop him from lamenting his side for the poor goals they conceded. That suggests he won’t be letting his team down tools in these final two rounds, though a pretty rotten record of just two wins from their seven games against teams starting the weekend in the top eight highlights how they’ve struggled to compete with the league’s best this season (W2, D3, L2). [/p]
[p]Fresh off their Coppa Italia final defeat against Juventus on Wednesday evening (1-0), Atalanta need to try and dust themselves down and refocus on league action. A win here would put them six points clear of Roma in sixth and guarantee Champions League football for next season, meaning they could switch their focus to next week’s huge Europa League final against Bayer Leverkusen with no distractions. [/p]
[p]The visitors took a huge step toward achieving their top-five aim by defeating Roma last week (2-1), making it a fourth successive league win for Gian Piero Gasperini’s men. He’ll be forced to watch from the stands for this one after picking up another yellow card and subsequent suspension in that success, although he’ll hope his team will have enough to do the job without him, especially given Atalanta have won three of their last four away competitive matches, despite their last three such outings witnessing both teams score.[/p]
[p]Players to watch: Former Atalanta man Roberto Piccoli has scored five league goals for Lecce this season, with four arriving beyond the hour mark. Gianluca Scamacca should be ready to play here after missing the Coppa Italia final due to suspension – he has scored four goals across Atalanta’s last four away matches, all within the opening 60 minutes.[/p]
[p]Hot stat: Lecce have scored 41% (13/ 32) of their Serie A goals beyond the 75th minute.[/p]