Aiming to get back on track in Serie A after excelling in Europe, Atalanta BC will welcome Genoa to Bergamo on Saturday evening.
La Dea may have convincingly defeated Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League, but they sit just two points above their struggling visitors on the domestic scene.
Match preview
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Having already lost to Torino, Inter Milan and Como this season, Atalanta required a 90th-minute equaliser from substitute Lazar Samardzic to rescue a draw against 10-man Bologna last weekend, leaving them 11th in the Serie A standings.
Therefore, Wednesday's 3-0 win over Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League - which followed an opening-day draw with Arsenal - brought some welcome relief from the Nerazzurri's recent woes.
Several shots rained in on Shakhtar's goal at Volksparkstadion, where goals from Berat Djimsiti, Ademola Lookman and Raoul Bellanova were fitting reward for La Dea's dominance.
A clean sheet was hailed by Atalanta coach Gian Piero Gasperini, who has witnessed his team concede the joint-most goals in Serie A this season, with all 12 curiously coming inside the first 60 minutes - at this point of the 2023-24 campaign, they had only shipped five.
On the plus side, the Bergamaschi have scored in their last 18 league games on home soil ahead of Genoa's arrival; that represents their best such streak since 1997, and another goal this weekend would set a new club record.
With two, Atalanta would hit 600 goals under the guidance of 'Gasp', and the only coach to ever fare better with a single Serie A side was the great Giovanni Trapattoni at Juventus (631).
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Genoa are well aware of Gasperini's abilities, as between 2007 and 2016 he oversaw 232 top-flight games as coach of the Ligurian club.
Since his departure, La Dea have won nine and lost only one of the sides' Serie A meetings, and Genoa have failed to even score on their last three league visits to Bergamo.
More recently, the Grifone have been enduring a downturn in form, losing four of their last five matches, including a painful penalty-shootout defeat to city rivals Sampdoria in the Coppa Italia.
Last week, Alberto Gilardino's men were beaten 3-0 by Juventus, completing a miserable few days that also featured their cup exit and a 2-0 loss to newly promoted Venezia; they now sit 17th in the standings.
Having held Juve level until the break, Genoa then leaked three goals after half time: only Parma have conceded more second-half goals this season, so Gilardino will be determined to end that trend on Saturday.
Team News
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Set to rotate his squad for their final fixture before the international break, Gian Piero Gasperini may consider bringing ex-Genoa striker Mateo Retegui back into Atalanta's starting XI.
The Italy forward has scored four goals in six Serie A appearances this season - just three fewer than throughout 29 league games for the Grifone last term - and he could come in for either Charles De Ketelaere or Lazar Samardzic.
Long-term absentees Gianluca Scamacca and Giorgio Scalvini (both ACL) are sidelined until next year, Rafael Toloi and Marco Brescianini are also ruled out by injury, while centre-back Berat Djimsiti picked up a knock during La Dea's Champions League win on Wednesday.
Furthermore, Matteo Ruggeri is struggling with a knee problem, so Davide Zappacosta should continue on the hosts' left flank.
Meanwhile, the absence of key midfielders Milan Badelj and Morten Frendrup will weigh most heavily on Genoa boss Alberto Gilardino, as they join Junior Messias, former Atalanta star Ruslan Malinovskyi and Caleb Ekuban in the treatment room.
Messias is closest to a comeback but will not be involved this weekend, when Vitinha and Andrea Pinamonti are likely to be paired up front.
The latter has a terrible record against Atalanta, against whom he has played the most minutes in Serie A without ever scoring, failing to register a single goal involvement across 612 minutes over eight matches.
Atalanta BC possible starting lineup:
Carnesecchi; Kossounou, Hien, Kolasinac; Bellanova, Ederson, De Roon, Zappacosta; Samardzic, Lookman; Retegui
Genoa possible starting lineup:
Gollini; De Winter, Bani, Vasquez; Sabelli, Thorsby, Bohinen, Miretti, Martin; Vitinha, Pinamonti
We say: Atalanta BC 2-0 Genoa
After his team's inconsistent start to the season, Gian Piero Gasperini appealed for patience while a whole host of summer signings settled in.
Atalanta now appear to be finding their identity again, which could prove problematic for Genoa, who are surely bound for a third straight Serie A defeat.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Jonathan O'Shea
