Date: October 27, 2021
Time: 18:30 CET, 12:30 EST
The best part about midweek action, besides watching football, is the short memory everyone is forced to have – especially following a frustrating droppage of points. That is exactly what’s on the docket for Atalanta as the club travels to Genoa midweek to take on Sampdoria. After firmly entrenching itself in the middle of the table last year, this year’s Sampdoria team without Claudio Ranieri has struggled to find its early season form. The club currently finds itself sitting in fifteenth place in Seria A, only three points above the danger zone.
Sampdoria, nonetheless, still has quality that cannot be taken lightly. Suprisingly most of it comes from the old guard. Fabio Quagliarella, Francesco Caputo, and Antonio Candreva are still going strong in the twilight’s of their careers and are making up the backbone of a Sampdoria team that is beckoning a call to Serie A’s yesteryear. Throw in Maya Yoshida for good measure and four of Sampdoria’s eleven starters are all over the age of 33 – quite the rare feat in football these days.
Wednesday is an important test to not be deceived by age. Record aside, Sampdoria is still capable of pouncing on mistakes and capitalizing on an Atalanta blunder. With Mikkel Damsgard injured, it may come down to Sampdoria looking to hit on the counter for an equalizer – an unfortunately similar situation to Sunday’s painful draw against Udinese that hopefully Atalanta can erase from its memory.
Player to Watch- Antonio Candreva
Antonio Candreva is in the middle of one of the hottest spells of form in the league this year. The thirty-four year old midfielder has three assist and four goals – included an absolute screamer – to his name, all coming from the right wing. Marking Candreva presents difficulty for any side, but even more so for Atalanta if the team chooses to lineup the same way it did on Sunday. A left side defensive pairing of Giuseppe Pezzella and Marten de Roon as a make shift center back is not the desired approach to handle Candreva. However, the duo was solid in handling Nahuel Molina, and Candreva’s pace may not be as much as a problem – just don’t let him put a cross in! If Atalanta minimize his touches in dangerous aras on the right flank, it should hopefully be enough to slow down the former Italian national.
Expected Atalanta Starting XI
Atalanta has to keep one eye on the Lazio match this Saturday, but the club is still restricted in what it can do formation wise thanks to the injury situation. Merih Demiral and Rafael Toloi are still not able to play, so it will most likely be the third consecutive match with Marten de Roon being forced to play centerback. Giorgio Scalvini would be an interesting shout if Atalanta wants to rest de Roon, but Jose Luis Palomino is also a yellow card away from suspension. Even with the uncertainties around the aforementioned players, it remains implausible that either makes way for the young Scalvini.
Further up Joakim Maehle is back after not being available on the weekend, making it a perfect chance to rest Davide Zappacosta, who has started every match for Atalanta since matchday three against Fiorentina. His motor is excellent but even the most durable of engines need to rest every now and then. The Malinovskyi Muriel connection won Atalanta the match last time out against Sampdoria, and seeing Luis Muriel start wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world. He is in the middle of his longest match drought without a goal in an Atalanta shirt – but at the same time he has not shown nearly enough in his time post injury to warrant a start. The Duvan Zapata tiring out Yoshida and Colley strategy followed by Muriel picking up the pieces may be the best plan of attack to get him back in a groove.
Atalanta Passione’s Three Keys to Three Points
Let’s try out a new feature, and see how it goes – the title should be self explanatory!
Score At Least Once in the First Half- Its a surprise to no one how much Atalanta struggles to beat a parked bus, and it would not be a surprise to see Sampdoria employ this strategy. Atalanta was toothless in a 1-3 defeat to Sampdoria last year, despite holding the ball for 65% of the match, and a soft penalty was all La Dea could muster. However in the return leg, Atalanta was able to get a goal before halftime, opening up the field in the second half to find a second goal.
Shore Up the Flanks- The aforementioned Antonio Candreva has been excellent so far this year, and the underrated Tomasso Augello gave Atalanta loads of problems last year too. Joakim Maehle and Giuseppe Pezzella will have their work cut out for them to ensure that neither gets to they goal line in dangerous positions.
Demonstrate Physicality In Defense- Atalanta was hard-done against Udinese by weak positioning and passivity on the final set piece scored by Beto. Teun Koopmeiners should not be marking the tallest man on the pitch in that situation, and Atalanta has to ensure that it doesn’t beat itself first, and then it can go and try to win. Errors at the back kill, and Palomino needs to set the tempo in the back three as the elder statesman of the group.
Four matches and counting until the November international break begins, but it feels like Atalanta will have to continue improvising on the fly to get there. Injuries aside, it is essential for Atalanta to not ignore the fundamentals, and give opponents extra chances to claw back into the match. Atalanta has failed to put a match away two consecutive times now – and while one opponent was Manchester United, Atalanta looked like different teams before and after its goals in both matches. A steady consistent match would be great to bring some positivity back to the forefront, and help the club see out three points. As always, Forza Dea!!!
