Having suffered back to back defeats to Fiorentina and Inter Milan, Atalanta have no choice but to try and end the barren run against holders and current Serie A leaders Juventus. The Bianconeri not only won all five matches this season, but they haven’t conceded a single goal in the process, which is enough to suggest they are the favourites to win in Bergamo.

Poor start for Orobici

While sides like Hellas Verona, Parma and Torino have been exceeding expectations of late, Atalanta are among teams that appear to be on the downtrend at the moment. Deadline day sale of key player Giacomo Bonaventura did not help either, and there is a chance Orobici could soon slip into the danger zone unless club chiefs show bigger ambition. Club’s highly rated youth academy is still producing fresh talent, with Juventus targets Daniele Baselli and Davide Zappacosta the last two starlets to have come out of the production line. And while the team did well to share spoils with Hellas Verona before defeating Cagliari away, back to back defeats to Fiorentina and Inter hinted they lack the quality to match Italy’s top sides. Boss Stefano Colantuono has been making numerous changes to the starting line-up in an attempt to improve the results, but his actions do not seem to be helping the team’s cause. Taking everything into consideration, this is just not the right time to be facing arguably the strongest side in the league that are also on top of their game.

Boukary Drame is doubtful with a shoulder problem, but Leonardo Spinazzola and Valerio Rosseti are definitely out through injury.

Antonio Conte does not seem to be missed

The current Italy boss had a major role to play in helping Juventus establish a domestic dominance and win three league titles in a row, but his successor Max Allegri seems to be doing pretty well indeed. There have been no major changes in Turin this summer, even if the likes of Morata, Romulo, Pereyra, Evra, Coman and Marrone seriously increased competition for places. Juventus have so far done brilliantly to win all five competitive fixtures without conceding a single goal, with league triumphs over Chievo, Udinese, AC Milan and Cesena offering a perfect start to their title defence. This is an even greater success than it seems given that mercurial midfielder Andrea Pirlo has yet to return from injury, but the Bianconeri clearly have no problems coping without their playmaker. Max Allegri has already started resting his important players in an attempt to keep them fresh for the business end of the season, but he was definitely delighted to see Arturo Vidal back to his best after returning from injury, with the Chilean scoring a brace against Cesena. Meanwhile, the return of Carlos Tevez and Paul Pogba will be considered a major boost for Juventus.

Andrea Pirlo, Luca Marrone, Andrea Barzagli and Martin Caceres remain on the sidelines, but Carlos Tevez and Paul Pogba will be recalled.

Verdict

Atalanta lost the same fixture 4-1 last term and with the team now even in worse shape, I cannot see them getting anything from this clash. Juventus have been absolutely amazing of late and they can be trusted to record another win to nil ahead of the Champions League clash with Atletico Madrid.

Top pick: Away win   1.60 (3/5) @ William Hill

Alternative pick 1: Juventus/Juventus   2.50 (3/2) @ BetVictor

Alternative pick 2: Juventus to win to nil   2.40 (7/5) @ Ladbrokes