Sunday’s Serie A action completes at the Gewiss Stadium as Atalanta and Bologna trade tackles in a potentially high-scoring affair. Four of the last five league meetings between these two sides have seen 3+ goals and both teams scoring, including a 2-2 draw in the reverse fixture earlier this season.
Atalanta’s 1-1 draw with Roma on Wednesday ended a run of five consecutive Serie A wins as the hosts hold a slim two-point lead on fifth-placed Napoli ahead of the kick-off.
Atalanta vs Bologna Head-to-Head
Following the reverse-fixture stalemate, La Dea stare at the prospect of failing to beat Bologna in both season’s meetings for the first time since the 2012-13 campaign.
However, Gian Piero Gasperini’s men have racked up a six-match winning league streak against the Rossoblu at home, returning a resounding +9 goal difference from that spread of matches (GF:13, GA:4).
Going back to 2014, Bologna have drawn a blank in 50% of their Serie A encounters with Atalanta (6-12), keeping just a single clean sheet in the process. The last time they managed to register a shutout in Bergamo was in a narrow 1-0 victory back in September 2009.
Teams Recent Forms
Speaking of Bologna’s defensive woes, they have conceded at least once in seven consecutive Serie A matches ahead of this trip. Since the turn of the year, Sinisa Mihajlovic’s players have preserved a blank sheet in just two of their nine away league fixtures.
They are now up against a highly prolific Atalanta side that have netted an average of 2.28 goals per Serie A game this season, accruing a total of 73 strikes. Particularly dangerous after the half-time break, they have recorded 66.67% of their home league goals scored this season in the second half of play (28/42).
High-octane end-to-end late action has highlighted Atalanta’s home Serie A outings this season as 11 of 16 have seen a goal scored beyond the 75-minute mark. Unlike the Bergamo-based outfit, the Greyhounds tend to go cagey in the later stages of play, having conceded just twice across 16 league trips in that same timeframe.
Team News
Except for Robin Gosens, who picked up a red card against Roma, Gasperini will have his entire squad at his disposal for Sunday’s showdown.
Meanwhile, Federico Santander, Aaron Hickey, Nicolas Dominguez, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Gary Medel, and Mitchell Dijks are all out with injuries for the traveling team.
Predicted Line-ups
ATALANTA (3-4-1-2): Pierluigi Gollini; Rafael Toloi, Cristian Romero, Berat Djimsiti; Joakim Maehle, Martin De Roon, Remo Freuler, Mateo Ruggeri; Ruslan Malinovskyi; Luis Muriel, Duvan Zapata
BOLOGNA (4-2-3-1): Lukasz Skorupski; Lorenzo De Silvestri, Adama Soumaoro, Danilo, Mitchell Dijks; Jerdy Schouten, Mattias Svanberg; Andreas Skov Olson, Roberto Soriano, Musa Barrow; Rodrigo Palacio