Date: November 20, 2021
Time: 15:00 CET, 9:00 EST
Fresh off the international break, Atalanta kicks off the Serie A weekend against a mini Atalanta B team in Spezia. With Viktor Kovalenko, Ebrima Colley, and Arkadiusz Reca (hanging out somewhere) all on Spezia’s roster for the season – there should be a lot of Atalantini interest surrounding Thiago Motta’s squad. But save that interest for another day! Atalanta needs three points against the squad from Liguria who find itself just outside of the relegation zone.
Motta’s squad is most definitely not the same Italiano’s last year who was able to comfortably stave off relegation – culminating in a promotion for Italiano up the Serie A ladder to Fiorentina. Spezia’s current goal per game clip is nowhere near the impressive 1.4 goals per game achieved last year; thus, Atalanta should be doing its upmost to play for a clean sheet and a comfortable victory.
Easy victories have been difficult for Atalanta to come by this year, and Spezia gave Gasperini quite the fit last year, especially in the early season nil nil draw. Health and depth is a growing strength for Atalanta after the cursed month of October – so Atalanta should be able to field a nearly full strength lineup and hopefully add onto its current dismal six points earned at home this year.
Spezia Player to Watch – Viktor Kovalenko
Kovalenko, to the surprise of most, is on quite the contract and wages with Atalanta – but with the myriad of attacking players on the roster, the Ukrainian could not find a way to crack this year’s roster. He’s settled in nicely at Spezia, and has become a fixture in the midfield (after a slow start to the season due to an injury). Beyond a wonder strike against Salernitana, Kovalenko has also contributed two assists – including the deciding pass in Spezia’s most recent victory over Torino.
Spezia does have an interesting array of offensive minded players, and if Kovalenko is able to control tempo in the middle of the pitch, he may be stirring up ire among the Atalanta faithful for biting the hand that feeds him. Nonetheless, if de Roon, Freuler, or Koopmeiners is able to keep a close eye on him, it will become more challenging for Spezia to create dangerous offensive flow.
Atalanta Passione’s Predicted Starting XI
As of this writing, Toloi’s status is still unknown, but Berat Djimsiti should be fully healed from his forearm injury. He did not travel with Albania for international duty, so he should be rearing to go and bring his calming presence to the backline. Unfortunately, Matteo Lovato injured himself on international duty, and will be out for several weeks. He did not figure to be in the starting XI, but it could force Marten de Roon to be an emergency stopgap at the back if needed.
The main concern comes up front, specifically how Duvan Zapata and Luis Muriel transition back to European time after their goalless escapades in South America. Zapata will likely get the nod, but Luis Muriel should see time as he continues to struggle for match fitness. He did not necessarily look svelte in Colombian yellow – so game time and serious training should be a priority for him!
Atalanta Passione’s Three Keys to Three Points
Get Duvan Zapata firing early– It feels like there’s bad juju in the Colombia setup. The Cafeteros haven’t scored in five consecutive matches, and the last thing Atalanta needs is that goal scoring drought to inflict its Colombian strikers back in Italy. Similar to the Cagliari match, the offense needs to look to get Zapata touches in the box, and if his turns are on point (as they were against Diego Godin) he should be able to get his fair share of shots on goal.
Mind the longball– Spezia is in the top half of attempted long balls this season (with over a quarter of its passes traveling over 30 yards), and it should be more of the same against Atalanta. Atalanta has been good for a mistake or two per game, and must ensure that the razor thin line of success and disaster does not veer to the side of disaster.
Get bodies in the box– Saturday will be another game of the defense tightening up the defense and forcing Atalanta to beat a strongly fortified defensive wall. With Robin Gosens still out, Mario Pasalic will be instrumental to provide another attacking source inside the box. He fared well his last time out against Spezia, putting away two goals, and hopefully his good form can continue. A few Joakim Maehle runs into the box wouldn’t hurt either to help provide some back-post overloads!
The next few matches for Atalanta come down to execution. The opponents are ones that theoretically should not be giving Atalanta much trouble, but when has that mattered for the club this year? Salernitana, Cagliari, and Udinese matches were all much tenser than they should have been, and the Spezia match-up feels much the same. Atalanta’s woes at home this season are an added (but probably insignificant) concern, with six points from six home matches being nowhere good enough to maintain a place in the top four.
Nonetheless the club continues to get its key players healthy, and with no international breaks for many months, the players can just focus on Atalanta. Three points against Spezia in convincing fashion will go a long way in building up confidence in a must win contest midweek, where again Atalanta require all three points. The fans have not been afforded a laugher of a game this year – perhaps Saturday is the day? We can only hope! As always, Forza Dea!!
