Gewiss Stadium forms the backdrop for a mouth-watering Serie A top-four six-pointer between resurgent Atalanta and reigning holders Napoli. Saturday’s showdown in Bergamo marks the beginning of a new era in the visiting dugout, but the hosts aren’t in a forgiving mood on home turf.
Atalanta had a glorious opportunity to leapfrog Napoli into the last Champions League qualification spot ahead of November’s international break. However, Ederson’s injury-time header was only enough to salvage a 1-1 draw against bottom-half Udinese, keeping Gian Piero Gasperini’s side one point adrift of the Serie A top four.
Seeking amends for that disappointing result at the Dacia Arena, Atalanta can draw confidence from their formidable home form this season. But there’s no room for overestimating their capabilities after Inter stunned Bergamo into silence with a 2-1 win in the last Serie A fixture hosted by the Gewiss Stadium.
Napoli failed to resist the temptation of sacking underperforming manager Rudi Garcia during the international break. An embarrassing 1-0 home defeat to bottom-half minnows Empoli last time out was the final nail in the Frenchman’s coffin as Aurelio De Laurentiis reached out to his former associate to salvage a dreadful defending campaign.
Preparing for the ‘Walter Mazzarri Sequel,’ Napoli will turn to reborn winger Khvicha Kvaratskhelia. While on international duty with Georgia, the 22-year-old forward announced his return to form with three goals in two Euro 2024 qualifiers against none other than Scotland and Spain. If ‘Kvaradona’ can reach the heights of last season, Mazzarri has nothing to worry about.
Match Preview
Atalanta
The abovementioned slip-up against Inter was a one-off. Atalanta have emerged victorious in five of their remaining six competitive home outings this season, except for a hard-fought scoreless draw against runners-up Juventus in early October. In fact, Gasperini’s side kept a clean sheet in each of those six matches, highlighting the size of the task awaiting Napoli this weekend.
However, La Dea haven’t fared well against the southern giants, losing their last three Serie A encounters by a combined score of 7-2. Despite scoring in both previous home league meetings, Atalanta were on the receiving end in each encounter, creating the risk of losing three home H2Hs on the spin for the first time in the new millennium.
Player to Watch: Ademola Lookman
Following a bumpy start to the new campaign, Lookman is hitting his stride, racking up one goal and two assists in his last four Serie A appearances. He was also the only Atalanta player to score against Napoli in 2022/23.
Napoli
After an underwhelming 16 games in charge of Napoli (W8, D4, L4), Garcia is now part of the club’s history. Mazzarri, who inspired Partenopei to Coppa Italia glory during his first stint at the Diego Maradona Stadium, is back to pick up where he left off. His first assignment is to galvanize a faltering side that has only won once in their last four competitive games (D2, L1).
However, Garcia has left him a decent platform to build upon, with Napoli heading into proceedings having won their last four matches on the road, all competitions included. Barring a narrow 1-0 Champions League win against Bundesliga underachievers Union Berlin, their three remaining victories during that sequence came via multi-goal margins, suggesting an emphatic success could be on the cards.
Player to Watch: Khvicha Kvaratskhelia
Kvaratskhelia wasn’t the best version of himself under Garcia, but a new dawn is on the horizon. Translating his superb international form to club level is imperative as he aims to add to his tally against Atalanta, having scored in both last season’s meetings between the sides.
Team News
High-profile injury concerns are few in the home camp. Long-term absentees Charles De Ketelaere, Jose Luis Palomino, and El Bilal Toure are still out. But the problem for Atalanta could be Marten de Roon’s yellow-card suspension.
On the other hand, Alex Meret, Mario Rui, and Jasper Lindstrom have joined Victor Osimhen in the treatment room. Napoli could still have Piotr Zielinski available for this trip after the midfielder pulled out of Poland’s squad due to illness.
Atalanta vs Napoli Potential Lineups
Atalanta (3-4-2-1): Juan Musso; Rafael Toloi, Berat Djimsiti, Sead Kolasinac; Hans Hateboer, Ederson, Teun Koopmeiners, Davide Zappacosta; Mario Pasalic, Ademola Lookman; Gianluca Scamacca.
Napoli (4-3-3): Pierluigi Gollini; Giovanni Di Lorenzo, Amir Rrahmani, Natan, Mathias Olivera; Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa, Stanislav Lobotka, Elif Elmas; Matteo Politano, Giacomo Raspadori, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia.
Atalanta vs Napoli Prediction
Connoisseurs of action-packed football will probably expect much from the fixture. However, the stakes are high for Napoli, and Mazzarri’s conservative approach could take the beauty out of the equation, leading to a keenly-contested encounter. Perhaps the share of the spoils could be in store.
Prediction: Draw
 |
Follow us on Google News for more updates on Serie A and Italian football |