Atalanta vs Monza

Gewiss Stadium is the venue as Atalanta and Monza go head-to-head in only their third-ever Serie A encounter.

New-look Atalanta enjoyed a stellar start to 2023/24 as marquee arrival Charles De Ketelaere inspired Gian Piero Gasperini’s side to a late 2-0 win at Sassuolo on day one. However, ‘La Dea’ failed to build on early momentum, succumbing to a woeful 2-1 defeat at newly-promoted Frosinone last time out. A lack of consistency means Atalanta fans can never know which version of their side would take the field, with Gasperini’s team lamenting a perfectly balanced eight-game Serie A record (W4, L4). A 5-2 thumping of Monza on last season’s final weekend is one of the most prominent features of that underwhelming run. It forms part of Atalanta’s formidable record in a relatively shallow H2H history against Monza (W6, L1), suggesting they are in pole position to return to winning ways this weekend.

On the other hand, visiting Monza suffered a 2-0 defeat at Inter Milan on the opening weekend. But they finished on the winning side of that scoreline against Empoli last week, as Andrea Colpani’s brace got them off the mark in 2023/24. Bettering a decent-looking 11th-place finish from 2022/23 is at the forefront of Monza’s mind. However, the visitors’ disheartening four-game away form (W1, D1, L2) indicated it could be easier said than done. Moreover, Monza’s three previous league visits to Atalanta have yielded multi-goal margin defeats, casting further doubt on their bid to end a two-game losing Serie A streak on the road. Both those losses saw Monza concede 2+ goals and fall behind within the opening 12 minutes.