Date: October 2, 2022
Time: 18:00 CET | 12:00 EST
A Quick Tale of the Tape
Atalanta: 17 points | 2nd place | +8 GD | +2.8 xGD
Fiorentina: 9 points | 10th place | +1 GD | +2.6 xGD
Everyone rejoice! Serie A and Atalanta football is back after a disrespectfully long international break. No the international break was not longer than the standard two weeks, but this one hit differently. Perhaps because of the excitement brewing in Atalanta’s camp after a thrilling victory against Roma right before the break? Or is it just because international breaks just suck? Giorgio Scalvini, Merih Demiral, and Teun Koopmeiners all picked up a knock in one shape or form, and there’s uncertaintly around who willl be available and in what capacity.
However, there is optimism the latter two can suit up, and Gian Piero Gasperini will definitely need them against a heavy hitting Fiorentina side. Vincenzo Italian’s squad was able to get the better of Atalanta three times last year, so revenge against La Viola is likely on all of Bergamo’s mind. Its been an uneven start to the season for Fiorentina, dropping some winnable games, and failing to find a consistent goal scorer up front. No on on Fiorentina has multiple goals in the league – a far cry from the days of Dusan Vlahovic carrying the lion’s share of the goal scoring duties.
Still Fiorentina can strike at a moment’s notice. Italiano’s heavy press and possession style can overwhelm opponents on the right day, and we know Atalanta’s distaste this year for completing consecutive passes. It may be a day for Gasperini and company to bypass the mess in the middle Fiorentina will likely create. Fortunately Atalanta has shown it can win with this style, now its time to replicate it against European sides.
Fiorentina Player to Watch – Antonin Barak
No one rocks the short sock look better in Serie A than Antonin Barak. With his big money move to Fiorentina its great the Czech international gets to show off his chops on the European stage. Never a player blessed with blazing pace or trickery, Barak somehow remains slippery and has blossomed into an extremely effective attacking midfielder in Italy. With Nico Gonzalez likely sidelined for La Viola, Italiano will have to look more to Barak to dictate the offense.
As is typical for squads with a strong central attacking midfielder, look for Marten de Roon to hawk Barak and force him to kick it out wide to either Jonathan Ikone or Riccardo Sottil – helping with Atalanta’s strategy of staying narrow in the middle of the pitch.
Atalanta Passione’s Preferred Starting Lineup
After the international break, not everyone returned back to Atalanta in pristine health. There are doubts on the health of Demiral and Koopmeiners, and there is uncertainty if Duvan Zapata is ready to resume matchday activities. According to reports, Demiral and Koopmeiners should be able to participate – and of course they get inserted into the starting XI.
I love the idea of Brandon Soppy getting a start, and perhaps he gets slotted onto the left side, but weirdly enough this feels like a perfect Hans Hateboer game. He either gets paired off against Sottil or Sofyan Amrabat (I mean) Riccardo Saponara, two players with a hint of trickery to them. Personally I hope Sottil starts, flails on the ground crying, and we get an image of Hateboer standing over him yelling at him to get up and that he’s embarrassing his father with his antics. I’d buy a Hateboer kit if that ever happened!
Up front, there’s a lot of mystery on what we’ll see, but I guarantee that Lookman and Ederson are included in some shape or form. In the Gazzetta this past week (thanks to Filippo Maggi for sharing the blurb), Ederson said that Gasperini wanted him to become an attacking midfielder, and by learning a new position, we still haven’t seen the best version of the Brazilian. I firmly believe there’s still room for him to grow, and I can’t help but wonder what the better version of him would look like. He’s already pretty damn good!
Without a squad list, its impossible to guess on whether Rasmus Hojlund or Duvan will start at striker. If Duvan’s healthy, it probably his position, but the rumor mill has been quiet on the progress of his recovery. Fortunately, Hojlund has demonstrated that he is more than capable of performing well at such a young age.
Biggest Key to Victory
Find the Hole in the Press: It is no surprise that Fiorentina will press and press hard. Atalanta will likely be playing more defense than offense on Sunday. However, Atalanta has to do a much better job than it did against Roma in diffusing the press, especially if Dea is fortunate to take an early lead in the match. It got exhausting watching Atalanta get swallowed up by Roma’s attack – and there aren’t too many timelines in which Atalanta keeps a clean sheet in that match. Whether it involves switching flanks, being more precise with the short passing, or even pressing a bit higher than normal, Atalanta shouldn’t get into the habit of allowing opposition to waltz into its own box so easily.
I’d like to see Teun Koopmeiners and Ederson lead the charge in the press diffusion. A Koopmeiners long ball to a streaking Hojlund or a nifty breakway dribble by Ederson could do wonders to make Fiorentina a little less confident in its press.
Number of the week: 31% – The percentage of Atalanta’s shots on target that have come from Teun Koopmeiners and Rafael Toloi. 9 of Dea’s 29 on target shots came from these two gentleman. No one else on the squad has more than two. I’m all for the diversified and sharing is caring offense, but soon Atalanta will need to rely on its actual goal scorers to, well, score goals.
Atalanta’s eight match onslaught between now and the World Cup break will not be easy. Matches against La Viola, Udinese, Lazio, Napoli, and Inter is as tough a schedule as you can get. Fortunately, Atalanta will have minimal midweek football to worry about – a perfect time for Atalanta to focus on one competition while its main competitors have their heads in two different places. This stretch will say a lot about Dea’s chances this year and if we’re contenders or pretenders. The first fifth of the season was nice and maybe a pleasant surprise, but it gets real here. Starting off this stretch with a win against Dea’s bogey team last year would be a great start! Let’s get at it. And as always, Forza Dea!
