Preview: Atalanta BC vs Genoa – Prediction, Team News, Lineups

Aiming to get back into Serie A after outstanding performances in Europe, Atalanta BC will be welcome Genoa on Saturday evening to Bergamo.

La Dea may have beaten Shakhtar Donetsk convincingly in the Champions League, but they are sitting there just two points above their fighting visitors on the home stage.

Game preview

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After Atalanta had already lost to Turin, Inter Milan and Como this season, the substitute club had to equalize in the 90th minute Lazar Samardzic were able to save a draw against the ten-man team Bologna last weekend and are now in 11th place in the Serie A standings.

So Wednesday's 3-0 win over Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League – which followed a matchday one draw against Arsenal – brought welcome relief from the Nerazzurri's recent woes.

Several shots rained down on Shakhtar's goal at the Volksparkstadion, where goals were scored Berat Djimsiti, Ademola Lookman And Raoul Bellanova were a fitting reward for La Dea's dominance.

The Atalanta coach welcomed the fact that he kept a clean sheet Gian Piero Gasperiniwho has seen his team concede the most goals in Serie A this season, with all twelve, strangely enough, coming within the first 60 minutes – at this point in the 2023/24 season they had only conceded five.

On the positive side, the Bergamaschi had scored in their last 18 league games on home soil before Genoa's arrival; This is the best such run since 1997 and another goal this weekend would set a new club record.

With two goals, Atalanta reached 600 goals under the leadership of “Gasp” and the only coach to ever do better with a single Serie A team was the Great Giovanni Trapattoni at Juventus (631).

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Genoa are well aware of Gasperini's abilities, as he oversaw 232 first division games as the Ligurian club's coach between 2007 and 2016.

Since his departure, La Dea have won nine Serie A meetings between the two teams and lost just one, and Genoa have not even scored a goal in their last three league games in Bergamo.

More recently, the Grifone have experienced a dip in form, losing four of their last five games, including a painful penalty shootout defeat to city rivals Sampdoria in the Coppa Italia.

Last week, Alberto GilardinoBarcelona's men were beaten 3-0 by Juventus, ending a miserable few days which also saw them go out of the cup and suffer a 2-0 defeat to newly promoted Venezia; They now occupy 17th place in the overall standings.

After maintaining Juve's level until half-time, Genoa conceded three goals after half-time: only Parma have conceded more second-half goals this season, so Gilardino will be determined to end that trend on Saturday.

Atalanta BC Serie A form:

Atalanta BC form (all competitions):

Genoa Serie A Form:

Genoa form (all competitions):

Team news

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Gian Piero Gasperini, who will change his squad for the final game before the international break, could consider bringing in the former Genoa striker Mateo Retegui back in Atalanta's starting eleven.

The Italian striker has scored four goals in six Serie A appearances this season – just three fewer than in the Grifone's 29 league games last season – and he could score for both Charles De Ketelaere or Lazar Samardzic.

Long-term absences Gianluca Scamacca And Giorgio Scalvini (both ACL) are out until next year, Rafael Toloi And Marco Brescianini are also out through injury, while centre-back Berat Djimsiti picked up a knock in La Dea's Champions League win on Wednesday.

Aside from that, Matteo Ruggeri is struggling with a knee problem, so Davide Zappacosta should continue to stay on the hosts' left flank.

In the meantime, important midfielders are missing Milan Badelj And Morten Frendrup Genoa coach Alberto Gilardino will have the biggest burden on them when they join Junior Messiahformer Atalanta star Ruslan Malinovskyi And Caleb Ekuban in the treatment room.

Messiah is the closest thing to a comeback, but won't be there this weekend Vitinha And Andrea Pinamonti will probably be paired at the front.

The latter has a terrible record against Atalanta, against whom he played the most minutes in Serie A without ever scoring, failing to score a single goal in 612 minutes in eight games.

Atalanta BC possible starting lineup:
Carnesecchi; Kossounou, Hien, Kolasinac; Bellanova, Ederson, De Roon, Zappacosta; Samardzic, Lookman; Retegui

Genoa possible starting lineup:
Gollini; De Winter, Bani, Vasquez; Sabelli, Thorsby, Bohinen, Miretti, Martin; Vitinha, Pinamonti

We say: Atalanta BC 2-0 Genoa

After his side's inconsistent start to the season, Gian Piero Gasperini appealed for patience as a raft of summer signings arrived.

Atalanta now appears to be finding its identity again, which could prove problematic for Genoa, who are almost certain to suffer a third consecutive defeat in Serie A.

For data analysis of the most likely outcomes, scores and more for this game, please click here.

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