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Kick off: Monday, 28.09.2015. @21:00
Venue: Stadio Atleti Azzurri d’Italia
Head to head record
Atalanta vs Sampdoria 1-2 (Serie A)
Sampdoria vs Atalanta 1-0 (Serie A)
Atalanta vs Sampdoria 3-0 (Serie A)
Sampdoria vs Atalanta 1-0 (Serie A)
Atalanta vs Sampdoria 0-0 (Serie A)
Atalanta vs Sampdoria prediction
Having extended their unbeaten run to four games with an away win over Empoli, Atalanta will attempt to see off Sampdoria as well and climb to the top half of the standings. The Bluecerchiati impressed to beat Roma in midweek and arrive in Bergamo searching for the first triumph on the road this season.
Narrow escape last term
Atalanta are not exactly used to getting involved in the relegation tussle and they almost paid the price for some poor performances last term, only to avoid the drop by mere three points in the end. Nevertheless, there have been no major changes in the squad, although the back line looks much stronger now that Gabriel Paletta and Rafael Toloi have joined. Atalanta started the season with a narrow loss to current Serie A leaders Inter Milan, but they have since shown a great deal of improvement. After the comfortable win over newcomers Frosinone, Orobici played out draws with Sassuolo and Hellas Verona, before being involved in another close encounter, recording a 1-0 victory over Empoli. Apart from the Frosinone match, Atalanta took part in four matches where the teams were pretty evenly matched on the pitch and we have a feeling the trend is going to continue. Orobici may not have enough quality to beat very good Sampdoria side, but, at the same time, we don’t expect their unbeaten run to end at Stadio Atleti Azzurri d’Italia this weekend.
Carlos Carmona is doubtful through a hip problem, but Marcelo Estigarribia, Davide Brivio and Andrea Masiello are definitely out.
No Mihajlovic, no problem
Sampdoria enjoyed one of their most successful campaigns in recent years last term, with Sinisa Mihajlovic leading the team to a top 7 finish, although there have been some major changes at Marassi this summer. The Serbian coach left to take charge of AC Milan, with Walter Zenga replacing him, whereas several important players also departed, but chairman Massimo Ferrero made sure to recruit decent replacements. And while many were surprised to see Sampdoria crash out of the Europa League, that should prove a blessing in disguise seeing that Serie A campaign has the priority. New coach did use European fixture to help his new players get integrated into the squad as quickly as possible and the likes of Niklas Moisander, Fernando and Joaquin Correa have already shown signs of promise. Sampdoria were pretty impressive at their Marassi, defeating Carpi, Bologna and AS Roma, but they could only take one point from away games vs Napoli and Torino, meaning they would probably be happy with any positive result in Bergamo.
Ervin Zukanovic is expected to deputize for the injured Matias Silvestre, while Mattia Cassani, Andrea Coda and Lorenzo De Silvestri miss out as well.
Atalanta vs Sampdoria betting tip
Sampdoria do appear to be superior to their next opponents in terms of quality, but with the Blucerchiati far from impressive on the road, we expect to see a close game in Bergamo. There is a chance that both sides would be quite happy with one point from this match, so our advice is to bet on draw.
Tip: Draw
Odds: 3.35 (47/20) @Guts
