Date: October 17, 2021
Time: 15:00 CET, 9:00 EST
The second international break of the young season is finally coming to a close with a trip to Empoli in store for La Dea. Empoli has been the strongest of the newly promoted teams so far in Serie A, currently sitting in 10th place with 9 points to the good. Time will tell if Empoli can hold strong the entire season, unlike Benevento who fizzled hard into the relegation zone after a strong start; but if there’s one team to put money in to not drop back down to the 2nd division it would be the Tuscan side.
Beyond the opponent, Atalanta is also coming up against a secondary, perhaps more daunting opponent, of the metaphysical ilk: injuries. The latest stretch of play has seen all of Rafael Toloi, Berat Djimsiti, Matteo Pessina, and Robin Gosens all succumb to lengthy injuries. With Hans Hateboer out since the beginning of the season, nearly 50% of Atalanta’s starting XI will be absent for the Empoli match, and the late returns of Duvan Zapata and Juan Musso from South America put both of them also in jeopardy of starting. Injuries aside, Atalanta will still have its hands full to get off on a good note to set the stage nicely for a slew of matches before the next international break in mid-November.
Player To Watch- Andrea Pinamonti
Surprisingly the young Inter Milan loanee is already in his sixth season of Serie A football, making his debut with his parent club all the way back in 2016 at the tender age of 17. Granted Pinamonti has not seen too much game time in his short career, but he still has received respectable starter’s minutes both for Frosinone and Genoa, putting away 5 goals in each of his campaigns out on loan. Time will tell if Pinamonti is in the Nerazzurri’s future plans, but he is most definitely in the Azzurri’s (of Tuscany) immediate plans. The young striker has already put one goal away this year in Empoli’s 4-2 defeat over Bologna, and has only failed to register a shot in one appearance this year (against Juventus in only 17 minutes of play).
Much in the same mold of Atalanta’s Roberto Piccoli, Pinamonti has the talent to excel in the league – but the stage may be too big for the youngster to be a consistent threat up front. However, these are the players that can strike at the most inopportune moments, making him all the more dangerous. Pinamonti may not be Merih Demiral and Jose Luis Palomino’s most challenging mark of the season, but he has the quality to sting Atalanta’s defense if the backline becomes too lenient in marking the youngster.
Expected Atalanta Starting XI
As mentioned above, injuries hinder Gasperini’s flexibility on who can start for the next couple of weeks. There are a few areas up for debate; yet, one of them is not the defensive set up. With Toloi and Djimsiti not expected to feature, Matteo Lovato should be getting his first start for Atalanta. Lovato has only played eight minutes for Atalanta this year, but rust shouldn’t be too serious of a problem given that he has been a first choice centerback for Italy’s U-21 outfit (pairing with Atalanta loanee Caleb Okoli). It’s doubtful that Lovato will have the skill or the comfort to move forward like the man he is replacing, but he did show inspiration in preseason getting forward – so maybe he’ll surprise.
Matteo Pessina’s injury, while not as hampering given the options in attack, does open up plenty of debate on who will be paired with Ruslan Malinovskyi in the attack. Mario Pasalic is a definite dark horse shout, to balance out the normally lefty dominated attacking midfield. But it could also be the perfect opportunity to run out Aleksey Miranchuk again, who has not played since Atalanta 1-0 victory over Salernitana. The Russian and Ukrainian have not yet found a rhythm together in attack, but the Eastern Bloc setup may be the best bet over the long haul, given Gasperini’s propensity to play with two ball players up front.
Other Pre-Match Odds and Ends
-The last time Atalanta and Empoli faced off was the epic 0-0 draw in April of 2019. Atalanta killer Bart Dragowski was in goal, and Empoli fielded a starting XI that featured Serie A staples: Ismael Bennacer, Giovanni di Lorenzo, Hamed Junior Traore, and Francesco Caputo. How that team got relegated is still a mystery….
-Unbelievably in that match, Atalanta took 47, yes 47 shots, hitting the target on 17 of them, and still couldn’t find the back of the net! A quick whoscored.com search confirms that Bart Dragowski, deservedly received a 10 out of 10 player rating in the match.
-In fact in the 2018-2019 season, Atalanta was not able to earn three points against Empoli, losing 3-2 in the first match-up of the year that saw Josip Ilicic sent off late, and then Empoli capitalizing on the advantage in extra time.
-Given Empoli’s best impression as a yo-yo the last few season, Atalanta has not defeated the Azzurri since 2017 where the boys took care of business 1-0 with a goal from Papu.
-Back to modern times, Duvan Zapata is now on 99 career Serie A goals. It is a game time decision whether he’ll play on Sunday after continent hopping post international break, but Empoli could be a prime opponent for him to get his coveted goal.
The next onslaught of matches don’t get any easier as Atalanta have to compete against both stiff competition and injuries. The injury bug hasn’t been too much of a problem for Atalanta in recent years, but now more than ever the club’s depth is being tested. So far the depth has paid off, with Zappacosta being immense and Demiral deputizing well. If one of Miranchuk or Pasalic can become a capable partner to Malinovskyi in the middle, Atalanta should be fine. Empoli is a good opponent for the attack to adjust in a new setup, likely having to beat a low-block and plenty of opportunities to link up, find what works, and then keep repeating that. Let’s just hope the defense doesn’t cough up any gifts, and the boys should do well to see themselves through. As always, Forza Dea!
