Serie A: La Dea Set to Trim Il Toro’s Horns

Torino vs Atalanta

As the Serie A season starts its second week, several teams are looking to further their leads over the rest of the pack, whilst others are hungry for a taste of victory.

Atalanta—ruthless in their 0-4 victory over Lecce away from home—will travel to Turin on Monday as they face Torino at the Stadio Olimpico Grande Torino.

New transfers Marco Brescianini and Mateo Retegui scored a brace each as Atalanta won their seventh straight season opener in a row.   

Meanwhile, Torino were unlucky to secure all three points from their visit to San Siro, as AC Milan clawed back to score two goals in the late stages of the match to salvage a 2-2 draw.

An own goal from Malick Thiaw put Il Toro in the lead after a failed ball clearance coming off Raoul Bellanova’s header.

Duvan Zapata then headed in an inch-perfect cross from Valentin Lazaro in the 68^th minute to seemingly put the game out of reach.

Alvaro Morata and Noah Okafor had other plans, however, as the pair scored in the dying minutes of the match to frustrate the visitors.

With all that said, can Torino brush the frustrating result aside and earn a first win of the season against Atalanta? Or will the defending Europa League winners make it two in a row?

Let SBOTOP guide you to find out.

 

Talking Points

Mixed emotions for Paolo Vanoli’s debut

After leading Venezia to Italy’s top flight last season, Paolo Vanoli has now taken his managerial talents to Turin, where he aims to lead the seven-time Serie A champions to greater heights.

And what a debut it would have been for him last time out, had it not been for I Rossoneri, spoiling their fun.

Speaking to the press afterwards, the former Venezia Tactician lamented the result as he apologised to his squad.

“I’m sorry for the boys, when you’re leading 2-0 until the 85^th minute you think you’re getting a great result. The changes made the difference. In August football you can’t have 90 minutes [at the same intensity],” he said in an interview with DAZN.

Of course, he was spot on.

The goalscorers, Morata and Okafor, were all substitutes, whilst it was Yunus Musah—another sub—who fired a pinpoint cross to the latter.

Prior to the match, Vanoli understood the difference in quality between Milan and Torino, citing that their squad is incomplete whilst Milan is fighting for the Scudetto.

If he can steady his squad for the full 90 minutes against Atalanta, then their efforts might be aptly rewarded.

Torino only scored 36 goals last Serie A season. So, if Vanoli can have his team firing in front of goal, then it would be a sweet welcome at home.

 

Atalanta’s woes

Despite missing an abundance of key players for various reasons, Gian Piero Gasperini’s side were able to hold their own and produce a brilliant performance to fire La Dea to the top of the table.

According to Serie A 2024 updates, Ademola Lookman and Teun Koopmeiners—both key players for La Dea last season—are on their way out to join Paris Saint-Germain and Juventus, respectively.

Meanwhile, Gianluca Scamacca, Nicolo Zaniolo, Rafael Toloi, Sead Kolasinac and Giorgio Scalvini are all still injured.

With the team obviously lacking depth, it would be up to Gasperini to steer his squad against a hard-nosed Torino outfit.

Aside from Brescianini and Retegui, Matteo Ruggieri, Isak Hien and Mario Pasalic played well against Lecce.

Their defence also held its own despite 21 shots coming from I Salentini.

 

History

Atalanta and Torino have faced each other 36 times since 2003, with La Dea having a 15-12 advantage, whilst the remaining nine meetings all ended in a draw.

However, the recent past leans in favour of Atalanta, winning eight of their last nine league matches since 2020. This included the 0-7 trashing in January four years ago.

 

Betting Tip

The SBOTOP Serie A 2024 odds predict this one to be a tight contest. Atalanta are the slight favourites at 2.33, whilst Torino are priced at 2.93. If you think the game will end in a stalemate, then put your money where your mouth is and give it a go at 3.02.

Personally, I see very little that separates the two, but my head is telling me to back La Dea to get their second win in a row.

   

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