Soccer Italy Serie A Prediction

Fiorentina vs Atalanta - Match Preview

⚽ 17 April 2023 - 18:45 GMT +0

After taking control of their UEFA Conference League quarter-final with a 4-1 first-leg victory over Lech Poznań on Thursday, Fiorentina gear up to continue their pursuit of a European place in Serie A (SA). Starting this round seven points behind sixth-placed Atalanta, La Viola can crank up the pressure on the visitors by extending their 13-game unbeaten run in all competitions (W11, D2) with another victory.

Coach Vincenzo Italiano spoke about having players who “improve week by week” as the reason for his team’s success, but perhaps that’s more down to his side’s defensive solidity as they’ve conceded just 32 goals, a record that is bettered only by four SA clubs this season. They haven’t quite been able to live up to those exemplary standards at the Stadio Artemio Franchi, with the hosts conceding 17 goals across their last 11 SA home games, managing just one clean sheet.

That poor record should boost a goal-shy Atalanta who has failed to score in four of their last six away competitive matches (W2, L4). Should they fail to score again, the visitors run the risk of losing consecutive SA away H2Hs for the first time since October 2015 after losing 1-0 here last season, though they did encouragingly replicate that score in this season’s reverse fixture.

Recent form suggests Atalanta may struggle to make it a season H2H double on the back of just three wins from their last ten competitive matches (D1, L6), bookended by a 2-0 SA defeat against Bologna last weekend. That result prompted coach Gian Piero Gasperini to insist “the teams behind have grown a lot”, which could serve as a warning to his side as they come up against another side challenging for European qualification.

📋 Players to watch: Jonathan Ikoné rounded off Fiorentina’s scoring on Thursday, but he is more of a provider in the league, with his last three SA assists coming in victories. Ademola Lookman could be the man to look out for as far as Atalanta is concerned after scoring his team’s final goal in eight of his last 11 scoring league appearances.

⚡ Hot stat: Ahead of the round, Fiorentina won a league-high 6.10 corners per league game while conceding a league-low 3.31 corners per match.