Date: November 30, 2021
Time: 18:30 CET, 12:30 EST
The midweek games don’t slow down for Atalanta as the boys take the field this Tuesday against Serie A newcomers Venezia. Perhaps best known for its knockout kits, Venezia and manager ex-Atalantino (for two games) Paolo Zanetti has nicely guided his side outside of the relegation zone – where the club currently sits tied for 14th place on 15 points, including a victory against Roma.
While Venezia has been a good story this year, and has every opportunity to stay up in the top division, Atalanta needs to go all out to ensure the Venetian side does not hang around. Zanetti’s side has held its own defensively, so Atalanta must go all out to give Mattia Caldara and company fits right from the get go.
Venezia Player to Watch – David Okereke
Former Club Brugge youngster has had a nice second stint in Italy, already netting four goals for Venezia this season, including two goals in his last three games. Beyond his penchant for finding the net; his pace, linkup play, and pressing all make him an interesting follow (not just in this match, but perhaps for the future). Atalanta have struggled at times with an aggressive pressing front lines, and Okereke certainly has the spirit to run around and pressure a defense. 12th among forwards and attacking forwards in Serie A for total pressures, navigating around Okereke’s presence will be the offense’s first task in deconstructing Venezia’s defensive setup.
Atalanta Passione’s Expected Starting XI
With Napoli coming up on the weekend, Tuesday may be the perfect opportunity to get several players a rest. Mainly this means Duvan Zapata. The big Colombian has started every match since he came back from injury, and while his goal-scoring form as of late has been undeniably good – Luis Muriel can still be an equally good option (and its clear he needs to get minutes back in his legs).
In the midfield, Robin Gosens unfortunately had a setback in his recovery putting more strain on La Dea’s midfield. Davide Zappacosta amazingly came back from his ankle injury to play well against Juventus, but Gasperini may opt to get Hans Hateboer his first minutes of the season. If its not a start for the Dutchman, an appearance of the bench still should be in the cards to get Hateboer’s his legs under him.
Atalanta Passione’s Three Keys to Three Points
Mark Tightly on Defense- Venezia is dead last in total shots taken in Serie A (by a significant margin), but the Venetians are 4th when it comes to shot on target percentage at 35%. Atalanta for comparison is at 29%. Venezia may not get into the box often to bother a defense, but the shots its looks for are often good opportunities. The backline boys have to guarantee that they close down on Okereke and company, and most importantly keep the attack in front of them.
Pepper Romero’s Goal with Shots- As infrequently as Venezia has taken shots this year, they oppositely have allowed the most shots and shots on target. There should be holes to get in on Sergio Romero, so as always being clinical is paramount. Similarly Venezia has also allowed the most shots permitted on free kicks, so it may be a day for one of Teun Koopmeiners or Ruslan Malinovskyi
Keep Pressure in Venezia’s Half- Venezia is last in Serie A in possession in the opponent’s half of the pitch, and its not close. The young American Gianluca Busio will be tasked with breaking the Atalanta press, a tall task for a teenager. Marten de Roon and Teun Koopmeiners needs to be up in his face all day trying to force as many errors as possible, and winning the ball back as quickly as possibly.
Going on a six game unbeaten streak in Serie A, merely continuing the streak shouldn’t be sufficient for Atalanta. These are the type of matches that Atalanta needs to earn three points, and wholeheartedly dominate the match. No repeat of Salernitana, please. Thorough victories against clubs of Venezia’s ilk are what separate the Scudetto contenders from the Champion’s League spots contenders. Inter and Napoli don’t fool around with the lower part of the table, if Atalanta want to be mentioned in the same category – it’s time the boys do the same. They have it in them, its just a matter of execution and focus – especially with the huge game coming up on the schedule. As always, Forza Dea!!!
