Atalanta vs Venezia

Gewiss Stadium is the venue as Atalanta and Venezia go head-to-head in an exciting Coppa Italia last-16 tie.

Coming into this showdown, Atalanta brushed Udinese aside with an overwhelming 6-2 away win in weekend Serie A action, halting a run of back-to-back matches without winning (D1, L1). Returning to the Gewiss Stadium may not necessarily be a good omen, as ‘La Dea’ have lost their last two competitive home games by an aggregate score of 7-3 after going unbeaten in their previous five at home beforehand (W2, D3). But seven of their last eight competitive outings in Bergamo have featured 4+ overall goals, including the last six in a row. Home and away, five of Atalanta’s previous six competitive fixtures have seen over 2.5 goals and both teams scoring, further highlighting the potential for an action-packed affair at the Gewiss Stadium.

In the meantime, Venezia head into proceedings amid a run of three Serie A matches without a win (D1, L2), conceding precisely three goals in the last two on the trot. Encouragingly, though, Venezia’s last competitive triumph came in Coppa Italia as they eased past Serie B outfit Ternana 3-1 to book their place in this round. However, ‘I Lagunari’ have found the goals hard to come by away from home of late. They’ve drawn a blank in three of their last seven domestic fixtures on hostile turf while netting precisely once in each of the out four. With three of their four goals scored in that sequence coming beyond the 60th minute, expect Paolo Zanetti’s men to put their foot on the gas in the second half.