Having virtually secured Serie A survival with a home win over Chievo, Atalanta can play without any pressure and that should result in another strong performance at Stadio Atleti Azzurri d’Italia. Fiorentina moved six points clear of the bottom three with a shock win over Roma that served as a major boost to their survival hopes.

Atalanta fighting for top half finish

The club from Bergamo faced an uphill task of avoiding the drop even before the season started as they were docked six points for their involvement in the match fixing scandal. Nonetheless, the club management did a brilliant job in the summer transfer window, having signed the likes of Cigarini, Denis, Moralez and Brighi, who, together with players groomed in the best youth academy in Italy, helped Atalanta soar to unimagined heights. Following some impressive performances at their Stadio Atleti Azzurri d’Italia and quite a few points brought from the travels, Orobici now sit in 11th place in the standings and have already secured Serie A survival. If it hadn’t been for the six-point penalty, Stefano Colantuono’s side would now be fighting for European places, which speaks volumes about their performances this season. Having won four of their last six home games in Serie A, Atalanta have got to be considered favourites in this clash.

Luca Cigarini and Guglielmo Stendardo miss out through suspension, while Daniele Capelli, Matteo Brighi and Guido Marinlungo are out injured.

Fiorentina still not safe

Boasting a squad capable of fighting for European places on paper, but largely struggling to meet the expectations on the pitch, Fiorentina allowed themselves to get involved in the relegation tussle and we can say they were very fortunate to break away from the bottom three with midweek win over Roma, probably the only team that can be dubbed bigger underachievers than Viola. While Delio Rossi’s side have been somewhat convincing at their Artemio Franchi, their performances on the travels leave a lot to be desired and Fiorentina could face a difficult task in Bergamo. Boasting a 3-6-8 record away from home, Viola don’t have much to hope for from this match, especially as they will be missing several very important players. The atmosphere in the team is also far from impressive, with the fans constantly putting pressure on the team to show some improvement.

First choice keeper Artur Boruc is suspended, whereas Per Kroldrup, Amauri, Alessio Cerci, and Juan Manuel Vargas are injured, and Ricardo Montolivo is doubtful.

Verdict

Atalanta have been pretty impressive at their Atleti Azzurri d’Italia this season and their excellent team spirit should help them a great deal against out-of-sorts Fiorentina. Viola have much more potential than they are showing, but with the team heavily underperforming at the moment, they cannot be trusted to get something from this game.

Our prediction: Atalanta Draw no bet

Odds: 1.67 (2/3)

Bookmaker: Bodog