Atalanta vs Napoli Prediction & Betting Tips - Serie A

Prediction published on 29/06/2020, 21:04  by Steve Ashfield | Modified on 30/06/2020 at 10:42 in Serie A Prediction

The Italian Serie A is set for top class action this Thursday, when top four aspirants Atalanta and Napoli face off at Gewiss Stadium in Bergamo. Hosts Atalanta head to this game on 57 points and in fourth place, while Napoli are sixth on 45 points. A fine attack, but a shaky defence has been the highlight for Atalanta this season; they have the most goals in the league (80), but have conceded the most (39) among the top nine teams. In their three matches after the restart, Atalanta took over from where they left, scoring  plenty but with no clean sheets in their last nine league and cup games.. They have scored 10 goals in the three matches, but conceded five. In the last match, they should have beaten Udinese comfortably, but after leading 3-1 in the 79th minute, Kevin Lasagna’s goal for Udinese gave them a shaky ending. Atalanta weren’t also entirely comfortable defensively against Lazio earlier. In that game, they conceded twice in the opening 12 minutes but credit to their attack, they came back to win 3-2. Facing a Napoli side that has also done well since the resumption of football is therefore going to be a real challenge. Atalanta are undefeated in eight Serie A matches ahead of this game, and have won each of their last six. They have actually drawn just one of the last eight league matches. In their last 10 league matches they have one clean sheet but have scored in all. Two of their three matches after the restart have been at home, and they have won both, making it a string of three straight home wins, having beaten Roma 2-1 in their last home league game before the forced break. In their 14 home league games, Atalanta have eight wins, and have failed to score in just one. Of the 14, only one has produced under 2.5 goals.

Napoli have had a good run after the restart; they beat Juventus to win the Coppa Italia and have followed that up with back to back wins over Hellas Verona and SPAL. They are still unbeaten after the restart and have also had some good defensive displays, keeping two clean sheets in the four matches they have played. The test will however be sterner when they face the league’s best scoring side. Napoli are unbeaten in nine matches across all competitions, while in Serie A they have won each of their last five matches and have scored at least twice in the last four. However, in their last 20 league matches, they have just three clean sheets - two of them have come in the last five matches. Napoli’s win over Hellas Verona was their fourth straight away win in the league and will give them the needed morale ahead of this tough outing. In the two teams’ last six meetings, five games have produced over 2.5 goals, and Napoli have scored in each of these six matches.