In pursuit of their highest-ever Serie A finish, second-placed Atalanta BC meet fellow form side Sassuolo on Saturday at the Mapei Stadium.
The attack-focused teams convene with Gian Piero Gasperini's men on a run of six wins from seven league games, while the hosts are enjoying a return to the peak of their powers - having posted four straight successes coming into this weekend.
Match preview
© Reuters
Atalanta reached the heady heights of second place in style last week - crushing ten-man Bologna 5-0 as closest rivals Milan fell to a second successive defeat.
As is typical of Gian Piero Gasperini's adventurous outfit, the goals were shared around the team - with five separate names on the scoresheet at the Gewiss Stadium. In fact, 13 different squad members have now contributed two or more goals to the Atalanta cause this term.
Ruslan Malinovskyi's opener set the ball rolling last Sunday, as La Dea inched closer to a return to the Champions League for an unprecedented third successive year.
The in-form Ukraine international had previously scored a deflected winner against outgoing champions Juventus and is the player with the most Serie A goal involvements - penalties aside - since the beginning of March: nine in total (three goals, six assists).
After he teed off yet another burst of scoring power against Sinisa Mihajlovic's shell-shocked side, the Bergamaschi went two points clear of Juve, Napoli and Milan, and further boosted their league-leading goal tally in the process. Their 78 goals - six more than champions-elect Inter - have helped them string together an extraordinary set of results: 10 wins, two draws and only one loss in their last 13 outings.
In such form, Gasperini and company will relish taking on Juventus in the Coppa Italia final and then ailing Lombardy rivals Milan on the final day, but must first take care of business against a potentially dangerous and fast-improving Sassuolo side - albeit Atalanta have won each of their last seven games against their Emilian counterparts.
© Reuters
After finally putting together successive Serie A wins for the first time since October, Sassuolo have since staged a sensational second-half comeback at San Siro to defeat Milan, then edged to a 1-0 win over Sampdoria last time out.
That four-game winning run has secured the Neroverdi's top-half finish, which looked in jeopardy due to an elongated mid-season lull, and pushed them to within touching distance of Roma in seventh - a final position which would book a place in UEFA's new Conference League for next season.
Top scorer Domenico Berardi's 14th league goal sealed the deal versus Samp and his recent return from injury has coincided with a sequence in which Sassuolo have remained unbeaten on home soil since early February. In six games since at the Mapei Stadium, they have registered three wins and as many draws to shoot up the standings.
Having established themselves as a regular fixture in the top half of the standings over recent years, Roberto De Zerbi's enterprising side have built a reputation for attacking football against even the league's top clubs. On Sunday, though, they encounter an Atalanta team likely to fight fire with fire; making it a tough task to celebrate their 300th top-flight game with a win.
- D
- L
- W
- W
- W
- W
- W
- W
- W
- W
- D
- W
Team News
© Reuters
Though centre-forward Francesco Caputo is expected to remain sidelined for Sassuolo this weekend due to a back injury - alongside long-term injury victim Filippo Romagna - young Giacomo Raspadori has a better chance of featuring, as he looks to have overcome a muscular issue. Should the local boy fail to prove his fitness, however, French forward Gregoire Defrel will continue up front.
Meanwhile, Filip Djuricic returns from suspension, but may have to make do with a place on the bench, with Hamed Traore's form making him favourite to keep his place.
Coach Roberto De Zerbi, meanwhile, must choose between Pedro Obiang, Maxime Lopez and veteran Francesco Magnanelli for a place alongside Italy international Manuel Locatelli in midfield.
Atalanta should be back to full strength on Sunday, as both of their established wing-back pairing of Robin Gosens (suspended last time out) and Hans Hateboer - who has re-joined training after a month out with injury - are now available.
Even if Gian Piero Gasperini will find it hard to rest any of his current front three, of 20-goal top scorer Luis Muriel and in-form Ruslan Malinovskyi behind line-leader Duvan Zapata, he has several other options in the final third - with previous favourites Josip Ilicic and Matteo Pessina also in contention to start.
Sassuolo possible starting lineup:
Consigli; Muldur, Chiriches, Marlon, Kyriakopoulos; Obiang, Locatelli; Berardi, Traore, Boga; Defrel
Atalanta BC possible starting lineup:
Gollini; Toloi, Romero, Djimsiti; Hateboer, De Roon, Freuler, Gosens; Malinovskyi, Pessina; Zapata
We say: Sassuolo 1-3 Atalanta BC
In a clash that almost cannot fail to entertain, free-scoring Atalanta can surge to victory, thanks to their endless number of attacking options and renewed threat from out wide.
Sassuolo's best-ever winning run in Serie A may come to an end, but a positive climax to the season can still be achieved now the Neroverdi have rediscovered their fluent former selves.
Top tip
Jonathan O'Shea
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Atalanta BC win with a probability of 58.04%. A win for Sassuolo had a probability of 21.12% and a draw had a probability of 20.8%.
The most likely scoreline for an Atalanta BC win was 1-2 with a probability of 9.79%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 0-2 (8.25%) and 0-1 (7.91%). The likeliest Sassuolo win was 2-1 (5.57%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (9.38%). The actual scoreline of 1-1 was predicted with a 9.4% likelihood.
