AS Roma V Atalanta
Wednesday 25th September 2019 – 18:00 Kick-Off
Italian Serie A
Pick: Over 3.5 Goals
Odds: 23/20
Bookmaker: Betfair
 |
1 | X | 2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 13/2 | 12/5 | 4/7 |
* (All betting odds displayed were correct as of 23rd September 2019 at 13:35)
Preview: Both these teams should have a spring in their step following their exploits at the weekend, with the pair each scoring late goals to secure positive outcomes. It is the home side who will be feeling considerably better about themselves, though, with AS Roma now on a three-match winning streak in all competitions. However, visiting Atalanta are both capable and incredibly dangerous. So this has the hallmarks for an exciting match-up at the Stadio Olimpico.
Italian Football Betting – 22Bet
AS Roma Preview – Romans on the prowl for fourth successive win?
That man again, Edin Dzeko, popped up with the latest of winning goals to ensure his AS Roma (11/10 with WilliamHill) side would celebrate a second league win in as many matches away at Bologna on Sunday and, in turn, continue their unbeaten start to the new season in Serie A. The draw probably would have been a more just outcome (xG: BOL 1.31 – 1.26 ROM) but Roma will not care about that, climbing into those coveted Champions League spots in fourth (W2 D2) as reward.
To compete in the accomplished manner they did, against a tricky opponent who had been performing well themselves in the early throes of the season, will have been especially pleasing for manager Paulo Fonseca, who would name a strong team just days beforehand in the Europa League. Dzeko would also put himself among the goals in that outing, too, netting the second in a 4-0 rout of Turkey’s Basaksehir. The Bosnian striker now has four in all competitions.
The league is their bread and butter though, with a return to the Champions League via a top-four finish the ultimate goal. To have drawn their opening two league assignments with Genoa (3-3) and Lazio (1-1) will have felt disappointing, particularly with them taking the lead on four separate occasions over the course of those games. So to then record back-to-back success over Sassuolo (4-2) and then Bologna is a positive step in the right direction.
However, a huge area of concern at the present time is a defence which continues to concede goals. It is no clean sheet so far in the league, conceding seven from four fixtures. Their xGA average of 1.80 would suggest these regular concessions were little to do with bad luck, either.
Atalanta Preview – Resilient La Dea unlikely to go down without a fight?
A disappointing week was just about spared from entering disaster territory when Atalanta (9/4 with Betway) dug deep into their energy reserves to score twice in the final ten minutes at home to Fiorentina on Sunday, who would be denied maximum points courtesy of late strikes from Josip Ilicic and Timothy Castagne. The final outcome, a 2-2 draw, was a fair outcome according to Infogol’s Expected Goals: ATA 1.53 – 1.36 FIO.
It would have been incredibly disheartening had La Dea (The Goddess) not taken something from that weekend clash with La Viola, mainly because it would have compounded a hugely disappointing performance on their Champions League debuts earlier in the week when they were resoundingly beaten 4-0 in Croatia by Dinamo Zagreb. The latter scoreline was harsh, with Atalanta creating chances of their own and unlucky not to trouble the scoring.
That is the beauty with this team: they will always create chances, even when things are going against them or aren’t panning out as they would hope. Twice this season they have come from behind to claim a positive result, coming from 2-0 down at SPAL to record a 3-2 win and, of course, there was that aforementioned fightback against Fiorentina. They also scored very late to win 2-1 at Genoa, so you can never write this team off.
Similar to the opposition, this Atalanta is flawed defensively. Manager Gian Piero Gasperini could only watch on in sheer disbelief as his team were torn apart in Europe in midweek, but he needn’t be so surprised because domestically his team have been leaking goals all over the place – it is now eight shipped from only four league fixtures.
AS Roma V Atalanta Key Facts:
- AS Roma have now won back-to-back matches in Serie A to climb into fourth position (W2 D2).
- Atalanta have lost only one of their first four league games this season (W2 D1 L1) to sit sixth in the standings.
- Perhaps ominously, both Serie A meetings in 2018-19 would produce six-goal thrillers, with both ending in 3-3 draws.
Betting Summary
This Roma side would appear to have entered into a good moment, after a last-gasp victory away to Bologna at the weekend made it two successive wins in Serie A and three on the spin in all competitions. Whether this sort of form can be sustained with such a leaky backline remains to be seen but there is enough momentum behind the Giallorossi.
On the back on a chastening experience in Europe, Atalanta showed their resilient qualities were still in abundance as they came from 2-0 down at home to Fiorentina to earn a precious point, scoring two late goals – something which has become their speciality, late goals. They, too, continue to falter in defence, which means the onus will once again fall on their dangerous attackers coming to the fore.
This clash should be thrills-a-minute based on their respective exploits thus far. Neither can keep it tight at the back but both are explosive and extremely lethal in the attacking third. Both Teams to Score would have landed in all eight of their respective league matches this season and is understandably short odds (2/5 with Bet365). It does seem inevitable there will be goals, however, with the 23/20 available with Betfair about there being four or more reasonable.
