Atalanta Bergamo

vs

Udinese Calcio

Preview

Atalanta

• Atalanta have won four of their last five games, losing once and beating Napoli 2-1 at home in their last outing.
• Atalanta sit 7th in Serie A after taking 45 points from 27 games.
• Atalanta have scored 22 times in 14 home games.
• Raffaele Palladino’s men have an even more aggressive, high-tempo style than Udinese boss Kosta Runjaic’s side, who deploy a pragmatic and compact 3-5-2 system.

Udinese

• Udinese have lost three of their last five matches, although they thrashed Fiorentina 3-0 at home in their most recent match.
• Udinese are 10th after earning 35 points from the same number of matches.
• Runjaic’s team are disciplined and well-organised, structured around a defence-first philosophy, and excel in their ability to launch swift counter-attacks from deep.
• Udinese have lost their previous two away matches and have been beaten on seven of their 13 road trips in Serie A this term, averaging 1.15 goals per game on the road (15 total).

Head-to-Head

• While Udinese won 1-0 when they hosted Atalanta Bergamo in Serie A four months ago, Udinese have failed to win on their last two visits to Bergamo.
• Across their five most recent head-to-heads, Atalanta have claimed two wins, Udinese one, and there have been two draws.

Key Players

• Recent scorers:
  • Atalanta’s Nikola Krstovic has scored 7 goals in 23 Serie A appearances this term and has been their most consistent source of goals this campaign.
  • Keinan Davis, with 8 goals in 23 games, is Udinese’s main threat.
  • Oumar Solet has chipped in with 2 goals in Udinese’s last five, however, and could bring another dimension to their play from deep.

Betting Insights

• Atalanta are the favorites here at 1.55, and they should win at home.
• The odds for both teams to score are a tad short at 1.91 and we’re passing over those, although over 2.5 does appeal at 1.85.
• The contrast between Atalanta’s manic pressing and wing-back overloads and Udinese’s disciplined, counter-attacking approach should make for an open, attacking affair.

Prediction

• Atalanta are the likely winners.
• Over 2.5 goals looks tempting at 1.85 given both sides’ attacking threats.