Atalanta vs Udinese

Gewiss Stadium is the venue as Atalanta and Udinese lock horns in a lopsided Serie A encounter.

Netting three times inside the opening 15 minutes laid the groundwork for Atalanta’s thumping 5-0 home victory against Frosinone last time out, reinforcing the Bergamo outfit’s bid to secure their first Serie A top-four finish in three years. A lack of consistency has plagued La Dea’s lofty ambitions, with Gian Piero Gasperini’s side alternating between winning (3) and not (D1, L1) across their last five league outings. It’s one of the reasons they commence this round a single point adrift of fourth-placed Fiorentina. But they’ve been the epitome of consistency at the Gewiss Stadium, winning their last four top-flight matches on home turf by a combined score of 13-3. Except for a 1-0 win against Lecce, Atalanta scored 3+ goals in the other three games during that sequence.

To contend with such formidable firepower, Udinese must regroup after wasting a 2-1 lead beyond the 80th minute to lose 3-2 at home to AC Milan last weekend. Gabriele Cioffi’s side spurned a fantastic opportunity to get into the win column for only the third time this season (W2, D12, D7). With that in mind, it’s almost a miracle they come into proceedings outside the bottom three, but a one-point lead on 18th-placed Hellas Verona leaves them dangerously close to the drop zone. Playing on the road won’t help Udinese’s cause, knowing they’ve picked up just two points across their last four Serie A travels (D2, L2). Defensive frailties ripped them apart during that stretch, as they’ve conceded 2+ goals in three of those four matches.