Two of last season's Italian outstanding teams, Bologna and Atalanta, have struggled to find their form this campaign. Both teams are currently mid-table, and their fans are undoubtedly expecting more. It's time for them to step up.
It seems that after Thiago Motta's departure, Bologna lost their consistent path to the Serie A top four. Under new manager Vincenzo Italiano, the team secured their first win only in the sixth official match, and their Champions League opener against Shakhtar Donetsk (0:0) was lacklustre (1.48 xG from 17 shots and no clear-cut chances). In terms of xG, Bologna have created 7.82 (eighth in the league), but without forward Joshua Zirkzee, who joined Manchester United, they lack a clear finisher.
Atalanta also faced personnel issues during the offseason—a serious injury to striker Gianluca Scamacca has been an even bigger blow than the sale of midfielder Teun Koopmeiners. On the upside, Gian Piero Gasperini has managed to unveil Mateo Retegui, who is leading Serie A's scoring charts with Marcus Thuram (both on four goals). Atalanta are first in the league for expected goals (10.49 xG), and their loss to Como 1907 (2:3) was simply unfortunate, following a demanding Champions League match against Arsenal (0:0).
Atalanta have strong motivation to avenge last season's two slip-ups against Bologna, especially since their competitors no longer have key figures like Thiago Motta, Joshua Zirkzee, and Riccardo Calafiori. The visitors have a good chance to secure three points, but it's safer to back them with a zero handicap.
|
Vincenzo Italiano
|
coach | ||
| Player | Matches | Goals | |
|
In squad
|
|||
|
Łukasz Skorupski
|
gk. | 4 | -7 |
|
Federico Ravaglia
|
gk. | 1 | -1 |
|
Nicola Bagnolini
|
gk. | 0 | 0 |
|
Sam Beukema
|
df. | 5 | 0 |
|
Stefan Posch
|
df. | 5 | 0 |
|
Jhon Lucumí
|
df. | 4 | 0 |
|
Juan Miranda
|
df. | 4 | 0 |
|
Charalambos Lykogiannis
|
df. | 3 | 0 |
|
Lorenzo De Silvestri
|
df. | 2 | 0 |
|
Martin Erlic
|
df. | 2 | 0 |
|
Nicolò Casale
|
df. | 2 | 0 |
|
Saer Diop
|
df. | 0 | 0 |
|
Tommaso Corazza
|
df. | 0 | 0 |
|
Michel Aebischer
|
mf. | 5 | 0 |
|
Remo Freuler
|
mf. | 5 | 0 |
|
Giovanni Fabbian
|
mf. | 4 | 1 |
|
Nikola Moro
|
mf. | 4 | 0 |
|
Kacper Urbański
|
mf. | 2 | 1 |
|
Tommaso Pobega
|
mf. | 1 | 0 |
|
Demirel Hodzic
|
mf. | 0 | 0 |
|
Emil Holm
|
mf. | 0 | 0 |
|
Lewis Ferguson
|
mf. | 0 | 0 |
|
Lorenzo Menegazzo
|
mf. | 0 | 0 |
|
Naïm Byar
|
mf. | 0 | 0 |
|
Niklas Pyyhtiä
|
mf. | 0 | 0 |
|
Oussama El Azzouzi
|
mf. | 0 | 0 |
|
Jens Odgaard
|
fw. | 5 | 0 |
|
Santiago Thomas Castro
|
fw. | 5 | 2 |
|
Dan Assane Ndoye
|
fw. | 4 | 0 |
|
Riccardo Orsolini
|
fw. | 4 | 1 |
|
Thijs Dallinga
|
fw. | 3 | 0 |
|
Jesper Karlsson
|
fw. | 2 | 0 |
|
Samuel Iling-Junior
|
fw. | 2 | 1 |
|
Nicolò Cambiaghi
|
fw. | 1 | 0 |
|
Benja Domínguez
|
fw. | 0 | 0 |
|
Gian Piero Gasperini
|
coach | ||
| Player | Matches | Goals | |
|
In squad
|
|||
|
Marco Carnesecchi
|
gk. | 4 | -11 |
|
Francesco Rossi
|
gk. | 0 | 0 |
|
Rui Patrício
|
gk. | 0 | 0 |
|
Berat Djimsiti
|
df. | 5 | 0 |
|
Davide Zappacosta
|
df. | 5 | 1 |
|
Matteo Ruggeri
|
df. | 4 | 0 |
|
Isak Malcolm Kwaku Hien
|
df. | 3 | 0 |
|
Marco Palestra
|
df. | 3 | 0 |
|
Raoul Bellanova
|
df. | 3 | 0 |
|
Sead Kolašinac
|
df. | 2 | 0 |
|
Ben Godfrey
|
df. | 1 | 0 |
|
Odilon Kossounou
|
df. | 1 | 0 |
|
Rafael Tola
|
df. | 1 | 0 |
|
Albert Navarro
|
df. | 0 | 0 |
|
Brandon Soppy
|
df. | 0 | 0 |
|
Giorgio Scalvini
|
df. | 0 | 0 |
|
Charles Marc S. De Ketelaere
|
mf. | 5 | 1 |
|
Marco Brescianini
|
mf. | 5 | 2 |
|
Mario Pašalić
|
mf. | 5 | 0 |
|
Marten de Roon
|
mf. | 5 | 0 |
|
Éderson José dos Santos Lourenço da Silva
|
mf. | 5 | 0 |
|
Lazar Vujadin Samardžić
|
mf. | 3 | 0 |
|
Federico Cassa
|
mf. | 2 | 0 |
|
Ibrahim Sulemana
|
mf. | 1 | 0 |
|
Juan Cuadrado
|
mf. | 1 | 0 |
|
Nicolò Zaniolo
|
mf. | 1 | 0 |
|
Vanja Vlahović
|
mf. | 1 | 0 |
|
Mateo Retegui
|
fw. | 5 | 4 |
|
Ademola Lookman
|
fw. | 2 | 2 |
|
Gianluca Scamacca
|
fw. | 0 | 0 |
Post by:
Serie A
