All eyes will be on the Gewiss Stadium as Atalanta vs Empoli square off against each other on Saturday.
Ademola Lookman and his Atalanta side will face a stern test in the quest for a European place next season when they host Empoli.
Lookman got a goal and an assist on Wednesday night to add to his goal contributions this season. He will hope to add to his tally against Empoli who also have his Super Eagles teammate Tyrone Ebuehi in their ranks.
Quick stats
- While Atalanta have scored 59 goals this season, Empoli have only managed 26 Serie A goals.
- Atalanta have won 7 of their last 9 home matches in the Serie A, while Empoli have lost five of their last 7.
- The hosts are 6th on the Serie A table with 54 points while Empoli are 16th with 31 points.
- Empoli have lost four of their last five skirmishes with Atalanta.
- Davide Nicola's troops lost their last three road games, failing to score in any of them.
Match preview
Atalanta come into this game smarting from their 4-1 Coppa Italia win over Fiorentina, while Empoli beat former champions Napoli at the Casto Castellani Stadium last weekend. Despite the similar form, Atalanta came out on top the last three times these teams clashed.
Empoli make the trip to Atalanta without the services of five players – Alberto Grassi, Alberto Cerri, Etrit Berisha, Ardian Ismajli, and Tyronne Ebuehi are all out with Ebuehi sidelined for the rest of the season.
The visitors are also poor travellers as they haven't scored in their last three road trips. Meanwhile, Atalanta averaged 2.5 goals at home this season.
Atalanta will look to Nigerian star Ademola Lookman to lead the line and get the win.
The winger put up a solid performance against Fiorentina earlier this week, and will look to continue his fine form. He has scored eight goals with six assists in the Serie this season from 26 appearances. It could have been more but for his absence due to international duties with Nigeria at the Africa Cup of Nations at the turn of the year.
Head-to-Head: Atalanta vs Empoli
Here is how their H2H looks like in their last ten meetings:
- 30 Oct 2023: Empoli 0-3 Atalanta
- 17 Mar 2023: Atalanta 2-1 Empoli
- 30 Oct 2022: Empoli 0-2 Atalanta
- 21 May 2022: Atalanta 0-1 Empoli
- 17 Oct 2021: Empoli 1-4 Atalanta
- 15 Apr 2019: Atalanta 0-0 Empoli
- 25 Nov 2018: Empoli 3-2 Atalanta
- 21 May 2017: Empoli 0-1 Atalanta
- 20 Dec 2016: Atalanta 2-1 Empoli
- 7 Feb 2016: Atalanta 0-0 Empoli
Atalanta vs Empoli prediction
Based on recent form and statistics, I expect Atalanta to win this game because they do score goals at home, while Empoli always concede goals when traveling and have not scored a goal in their last three away trips.
In their last six league games, Empoli have won two and lost four while Atalanta in the same number of games, have pulled off two wins, two draws and two losses. Empoli’s squad has been hit by injury while Rafael Toloi and Erik Holm will be missing for Atalanta.
In the last five encounters between these sides in the Serie A, Atalanta scored 12 goals while Empoli managed to score only three times.
This points to an Atalanta win in my opinion with a two-goal margin.
Nigerian forward Ademola Lookman will likely start this game after impressing Gian Piero Gasperini on Wednesday with a goal and an assist.
Predicted line-ups
Atalanta: Marco Carnesecchi, Berat Djimsiti, Isak Hien, Saed Kolasinac, Hans Hateboer, Marten De Roon, Ederson Jose, Matteo Ruggeri, Teun Koopmeiners, Ademola Lookman, Gianluca Scamacca.
Empoli: Elia Caprile, Bartosz Bereszynski, Sebastian Walukiewicz, Sebastiano Luperto, Emmanuel Quartsin Gyasi, Alberto Grassi, Youssef Maleh, Giuseppe Pezzella, Szymon Zurkowski, Nicolò Cambiaghi, Mbaye Niang
