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Continuing our coverage of Italian football this week, our Serie A expert, Daniele Fisichella , is here to provide you with his Atalanta vs Udinese prediction, tips and best bets. The game will be the first one of Saturday’s three matches in Serie A as matchday 22 opens with Cagliari vs Torino.
Daniele is in great form after delivering two successful tips last week and insights for the match in Bergamo.
In this article:
Italy, Serie A, Saturday, January 27th, 14:00 (UK)
Atalanta are in scintillating form, having won four of the last five games in all competitions.
The ease with which they put five past Frosinone (they were 3-0 up before 20 minutes) showed they’ve found the right balance to get the most out of their talented players up front.
Teun Koopmeiners has been the standout man with four goals in the last three games, but the good news for Giampiero Gasperini is that everyone is contributing: 17 different players have already found the net this season.
It looks like ‘vintage’ Atalanta, but the best might be yet to come, as record-signing El Bilal Touré is finally ready to play after his injury.
With the Malian striker fully recovered as well as Gianluca Scamacca (six goals so far), Atalanta could seriously challenge for a top-four finish this season, helped also by the great form of Charles De Keteleare who looks a different player from last season at AC Milan.
Seven of the last nine Atalanta games have ended with more than three goals, and although the Bergamaschi’s biggest strength is upfront (they have Serie A’s second-best attack alongside Juve but with a game in hand), their defensive record is not too be overlooked either.
Their ability to dominate possession and control games has led them to keep nine clean sheets so far (12 if we count the Europa League), as six of them came in front of their home crowd, where Atalanta has been ruthless against lower-table sides.
Udinese have only won two games this season, both to nil, against AC Milan and Bologna, but have got Serie A’s fourth-worst defence (35 goals conceded) and have been involved in eight games with four goals or more.
The Friulani have only kept five clean sheets so far, and given their recent results, it’s unlikely the game will end 0-0.
As they demonstrated against Fiorentina, Udinese can be dangerous on the counter-attack and have scored at least a goal in all their last six games.
But in a high-scoring game, as this will probably turn out to be, it’s hard to imagine Gabriele Cioffi’s men will prevail against such in-form Atalanta.
The Bergamaschi are looking for their fifth consecutive home win in Serie A and will be fully rested as their league game against Inter was postponed due to the Neroazzurri’s involvement in the Italian SuperCup.
This season, Atalanta has won five home games where there have been more than two goals scored, whereas Udinese have conceded two or more against the majority of Italy’s top teams: Juventus, Fiorentina (twice), Napoli, AC Milan, Roma, Inter and Lazio.
The visitors have got the biggest expected points of negative difference as too often they missed clear-cut chances. But last Saturday, against AC Milan, they found their two goals almost out of nothing (xG was, in fact, 0.81) and were dominated by the Rossoneri for large spells of the game.
Atalanta vs Udinese Prediction odds via bet365 as at 11:50, January 22nd, 2024. Odds may now differ.
Gianpiero Gasperini can count on the full squad, and the only alteration on the formation that beat Frosinone is likely to be Mario Pasalic to replace Gianluca Scamacca.
De Keteleare (seven goals this season) will continue to lead the attack, and Tourè is likely to feature in the second half.
Also, Gabriele Cioffi is expected to confirm the lineup that lost 3-2 against AC Milan. The only doubt is Pereyra, who suffered a light muscular injury at the weekend. Thuavin, who scored last Sunday, might replace the Argentine, whereas Payero is also in contention to start the match. Bijol, Ebosse, Deulofeu, Vivaldo and Davis are all unavailable.
POSITION | CLUB | GAMES | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | PTS |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Inter | 38 | 28.3 | 6.3 | 3.4 | 89.2 | 24.4 | 64.8 | 91.3 |
2 | Juventus | 38 | 25.6 | 8.3 | 4.1 | 61.3 | 24.5 | 36.8 | 85.1 |
3 | AC Milan | 38 | 21.1 | 7.3 | 9.6 | 66.0 | 43.3 | 22.7 | 70.5 |
4 | Napoli | 38 | 18.0 | 8.2 | 11.8 | 60.6 | 45.9 | 14.7 | 62.2 |
5 | Atalanta | 38 | 18.2 | 7.4 | 12.4 | 62.0 | 41.6 | 20.4 | 62.1 |
6 | Lazio | 38 | 17.5 | 7.8 | 12.7 | 47.0 | 39.1 | 7.9 | 60.3 |
7 | Bologna | 38 | 15.6 | 13.1 | 9.3 | 44.8 | 35.0 | 9.9 | 59.9 |
8 | AS Roma | 38 | 16.5 | 9.7 | 11.8 | 57.4 | 41.4 | 16.0 | 59.3 |
9 | Fiorentina | 38 | 15.9 | 8.5 | 13.6 | 50.9 | 47.0 | 3.9 | 56.1 |
10 | Torino | 38 | 13.5 | 12.2 | 12.4 | 37.1 | 37.0 | 0.2 | 52.6 |
11 | Monza | 38 | 11.6 | 11.4 | 15.0 | 42.0 | 52.4 | -10.5 | 46.2 |
12 | Genoa | 38 | 10.7 | 12.4 | 14.9 | 36.5 | 43.1 | -6.5 | 44.5 |
13 | Sassuolo | 38 | 10.9 | 8.3 | 18.8 | 49.4 | 63.9 | -14.6 | 41.0 |
14 | Udinese | 38 | 8.0 | 16.5 | 13.5 | 43.0 | 57.4 | -14.4 | 40.5 |
15 | Lecce | 38 | 9.1 | 13.3 | 15.6 | 40.4 | 54.8 | -14.4 | 40.5 |
16 | Cagliari | 38 | 9.8 | 10.4 | 17.8 | 40.8 | 59.6 | -18.8 | 39.8 |
17 | Frosinone | 38 | 10.3 | 8.3 | 19.4 | 46.3 | 67.8 | -21.6 | 39.1 |
18 | Verona | 38 | 8.4 | 9.7 | 19.8 | 34.2 | 52.7 | -18.5 | 35.0 |
19 | Empoli | 38 | 7.2 | 8.5 | 22.3 | 27.6 | 63.1 | -35.5 | 30.2 |
20 | Salernitana | 38 | 5.0 | 9.9 | 23.0 | 31.1 | 73.5 | -42.4 | 25.0 |
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