Bologna fell for a humiliating 5-1 defeat last time in Milan, and will aim to return to winning ways against Atalanta who secured their third top-four finish in the last four seasons with the draw versus Verona.
Serie A 2019/2020
Date: Tuesday July 21
Kick-off: 18:30
Venue: Gewiss Stadium
In-form Atalanta could still fancy their chances of gate-crashing the Scudetto race despite the 1-1 draw with Hellas Verona last time out, a point which put them on 71 for the season, and meant they firmly have a berth for next season’s Champions League in the bag.
So while they are still within an outside chance of reeling in leaders Juventus (who already have 77 points) for the title, they know they will need not drop any more points to achieve this, and that will mean making the most of their four remaining games.
Ahead of the Champions League quarter-final showdown with Paris Saint-Germain in August, Gian Piero Gasperini will still be confident in what has been an impressive campaign, though Europe’s primary competition could yet become their priority should Juve inevitably go on to build an unassailable lead.
Bologna would have been forgiven for habouring their own hopes of an unlikely Europa League spot following their late surge of decent results last month.
However, a run of two points from four games has left I Rossoblu in mid-table, with the big defeat last time out effectively resulting in eighth position now becoming their most realistic target.
Perhaps, a tough fixture schedule is to be blamed for their downfall, with their losses coming against in-form teams Sassuolo and Milan, but with some credits reserved for a draw with Napoli somewhere in between.
With struggling Torino and Lecce to come in their last three for the campaign, they will be confident of ending the season on a high nonetheless.
Team news
Atalanta
Hans Hateboer is suspended for yellow cards accumulation.
Bologna
Mitchell Dijks will also serve suspension here while Atalanta loanee Musa Barrow is not eligible to feature against his parent club.
Jerdy Schouten is ruled out due to injury.
Head to Head
In 35 competitive meetings between these two sides, Atalanta have recorded 16 wins to Bologna’s eight, one of which was in the 2-1 reverse fixture his season. 11 other affairs have been drawn.
Team form
Atalanta’s last five competitive games: WWDWD
Bologna’s last five competitive games: WLDDL
Betting tips
With the freedom to throw caution to the wind and having slipped up in their last outing, one can expect a positive response from the hosts here, who will feel very confident of outclassing Tuesday’s opponents who are low in confidence following the trouncing meted out to them by AC Milan.
We find it difficult not to back them to roll to a comfortable win here, and that is what we will go for at odds of 2/7.
