Atalanta vs Monza
Gewiss Stadium forms the backdrop for an exciting midweek Serie A showdown between Atalanta and Monza.
Gian Piero Gasperini painted his 400th match in charge of Atalanta with flying colors as ‘La Dea’ humbled Hellas Verona 6-1 at the weekend, upholding their near-flawless competitive record in October (W4, D1). As a result, Gasperini can secure Atalanta’s first undefeated calendar month of action since January should they maintain their 100% win ratio against Monza in Serie A (W4). Three of Atalanta’s four previous Serie A wins against this opposition came by multi-goal margins, including a 3-0 rout in this corresponding fixture last term. Another dominant victory is on the cards, with the Bergamo outfit heading into proceedings having scored 11 goals across their two most recent home league clashes (W2).
In the meantime, Monza hauled back a halftime deficit in a disappointing 2-2 home draw against newly promoted Venezia last weekend, rounding off the club’s worst-ever nine-game Serie A start (W1, D5, L3). Stranded only two points clear of the bottom three, manager Alessandro Nesta has a lot on his plate. However, he can draw heart from avoiding defeat on three of his first four top-flight travels as a manager (W1, D2), three of which saw one or both teams fail to get on the scoresheet. Worryingly, ‘I Biancorossi’ have conceded more away Serie A goals against Atalanta (8) than against any other side.