Juventus vs Atalanta
At this point in the season, both Juventus and Atalanta need to rack up as many points and wins as they can to get to where they want to be.
Juventus are way off pace against Serie A leaders Inter Milan because of a 15-point gap between them. They can easily wave the white flag since a top four spot is virtually secured, but don’t tell that to Max Allegri and co.
Atalanta face a similar situation since they are likely to secure a spot in the Europa Conference League next season. However, because they’re only trailing by one point against fifth-seeded AS Roma, La Dea can still make a run at the Europa League and maybe the Champions League.
Who will get the important three points in this Sunday fixture at the Allianz Stadium? Read our SBOTOP preview to learn more.
Talking Points
Juventus have a gaping hole in midfield
Juventus have stumbled lately because their midfield depth has been compromised by injuries. As of this writing, the only 100-per cent fit midfielders that they have are Manuel Locatelli, Fabio Miretti, Joseph Nonge Boende, and Hans Nicolussi Caviglia.
In their 2-1 loss against Napoli on Sunday, Weston McKennie and Adrien Rabiot were sidelined, so Fabio Miretti and Carlos Alcaraz had to play more minutes.
Unfortunately for the Bianconeri, Alcaraz suffered a hamstring injury during a training session on Wednesday, and he is expected to be out for at least two weeks, based on the Serie A 2024 news.
Max Allegri can no longer afford to lose more players in the middle of the park, especially with Nicolo Fagioli and Paul Pogba on the sidelines due to long-term suspensions.
With that said, Allegri is hoping that both Weston McKennie and Adrien Rabiot are both fit to play against Atalanta, and the good news is that both have trained with the senior team recently. McKennie dislocated his shoulder against Frosinone two weeks ago, while Rabiot is dealing with a toe injury.
Other than that, Juve don’t have many problems since Dusan Vlahovic is in a rich vein of form lately, having scored three goals in his last three appearances.
Tough road ahead for Atalanta
Since their 3-0 rout of Sassuolo, Atalanta have been prone to slow starts, leading to two losses and two draws in their last four outings.
La Dea needed equalisers against AC Milan and Sporting, while Inter Milan blitzed them in the first half en route to a 4-0 win.
Against Bologna, it was the opposite, as Ademola Lookman put Atalanta up 1-0 in the 28th minute. However, Bologna scored twice in the second half (via Joshua Zirkzee and Lewis Ferguson), and Gian Piero Gasperini’s boys couldn’t recover.
And it won’t get any easier for Atalanta in the next few weeks, as after the Juve game, they’ll take on Sporting once again in the Europa League Round of 16 before facing Fiorentina (twice) and Napoli.
History
Juventus and Atalanta have shared the spoils in their last two meetings, recording back-to-back goalless draws in an exhibition game in August and during their reverse fixture in October.
All in all, nine of their last 14 league encounters have been draws, which is as many as in their previous 43 meetings between these two teams in the Italian top-flight.
Before those two goalless draws, Juventus won 2-0 in May 2023, as Samuel Iling-Junior and Dusan Vlahovic scored one goal each. Unfortunately for Max Allegri’s side, that’s their only win in their last eight league games against Atalanta (D5, L2).
Atalanta are unbeaten in their last five Serie A away matches against Juventus (W1, D4) after eight consecutive away losses against them in the competition.
Juventus have defeated Atalanta the second-most times here in Serie A with 66 wins out of 123 matches, which is only two behind Inter Milan (W68).
Betting Tip
The Serie A 2024 odds believe that we’re going to have another close game between Juventus and Atalanta this weekend. The hosts have the slight advantage at 2.28 odds, while Atalanta are installed at 2.98, and a draw is at 3.06 in the 1X2 market.
Despite their gap in the table, predicting the winner of this contest is a tough call, just like in their recent meetings. In the end, though, we believe that defence will be the emphasis of this game, hence our recommended bet above.
You can also consider Total Goal 0-1 at 2.91 or a Correct Score of 0-0 at 8.80 for better value for money.
A SHORT EXPLANATION ON HOW OUR (⭐) BETS ARE WORTH:
⭐⭐⭐= €20 (HIGHLY CONFIDENT)
⭐⭐= €10 (CONFIDENT))
⭐= €5 (SOMEWHAT CONFIDENT)
Disclaimer: Odds are correct at time of publish.
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