After both enjoyed successful starts to the new Serie A season, Atalanta BC and Lombardy rivals AC Milan meet at the Gewiss Stadium on Sunday.
While the hosts took maximum points against Sampdoria on the opening day, the champions extended a long winning run by defeating Udinese 4-2 at San Siro.
Atalanta endured a bleak time on home soil last season, as they slipped to eighth place in the final standings, far below their recent high standards as top-four regulars and challengers in Europe.
As they look to mount a comeback campaign, home form will be crucial, but they have lost each of their last three league matches against Milan, having been unbeaten in 10 of the previous 11.
With a poor tally of just four league wins in front of their frustrated fans throughout 2021-22, the pressure will be on Gian Piero Gasperini to get a better tune out of his talented squad, whose confidence has grown rigid over recent months.
As a result of their decline, the Nerazzurri do not have continental campaign to distract them this year, and benefiting from a lighter schedule means domestic improvement is a must.
Having posted six straight victories at the end of last season, to keep Inter at arms length and lift their first Scudetto for 11 years, AC Milan made it seven in a row on Serie A’s opening day.
Milan kicked off their title defence by scoring from the spot through Theo Hernandez, before pulling away from Udinese in the second half, after they had been hauled back to 2-2 just before the break.
The Rossoneri now make the short trip having added four goals on the opening weekend to 17 scored across five pre-season matches, so the chances of continuing Stefano Pioli’s trend of bright starts are still strong.
Atalanta BC vs AC Milan head to head
The two teams have previously met on 48 occasions, where Atalanta have claimed 10 victories while Milan have won 24, and they have drawn in 14. Atalanta have scored 46 goals and conceded 74 in the process. In their last five meetings, Milan have won three, Atalanta one with one draw.
AC Milan 1-1 Atalanta 24/07/20
AC Milan 0-3 Atalanta 23/01/21
Atalanta 0-2 AC Milan 23/05/21
Atalanta 2-3 AC Milan 03/10/21
AC Milan 2-0 Atalanta 15/05/22
Atalanta BC latest home form
Atalanta have recently been on a relatively good run of form at home, having lost just one of their five most recent matches. They managed to defeat Como 4-0 in their last home game in a friendly. In their last five matches, they have scored 21 goals and conceded seven.
Atalanta 4-4 Torino 27/04/22
Atalanta 1-1 Salernitana 02/05/22
Atalanta 0-1 Empoli 21/05/22
Atalanta 12-1 Gambarogno – Contone 16/07/22
Atalanta 4-0 Como 23/07/22
Atalanta BC latest away form
Atalanta have recently failed to keep a good run of form on the road, having won just two of their five most recent matches. They defeated Sampdoria 2-0 in their last away game in the league. In their last five matches, they have scored six goals and also conceded six.
Spezia 1-3 Atalanta 08/05/22
AC Milan 2-0 Atalanta 15/05/22
Newcastle United 1-0 Atalanta 29/07/22
Valencia 2-1 Atalanta 06/08/22
Sampdoria 0-2 Atalanta 13/08/22
AC Milan latest home form
AC Milan have recently been on a relatively good run of form at home, having won each of their four most recent matches. They managed to defeat Udinese 4-2 in their last home game in the league. In their last five matches, they have scored nine goals and conceded two.
AC Milan 0-0 Bologna 04/04/22
AC Milan 2-0 Genoa 15/04/22
AC Milan 1-0 Fiorentina 01/05/22
AC Milan 2-0 Atalanta 15/05/22
AC Milan 4-2 Udinese 13/08/22
AC Milan latest away form
AC Milan have recently been on a good run of form on the road, having lost just one of their eight most recent matches. They managed to defeat Vicenza 6-1 in their last away game in a friendly. In their last five matches, they have scored 17 goals and conceded five.
FC Cologne 1-2 AC Milan 16/07/22
Zalaegerszegi TE 3-2 AC Milan 23/07/22
Wolfsberger AC 0-5 AC Milan 27/07/22
Marseille 0-2 AC Milan 31/07/22
Vicenza 1-6 AC Milan 06/08/22
Atalanta BC news
Following the departures of Matteo Pessina and Aleksei Miranchuk, Atalaanta have moved to strengthen their squad by signing French wing-back Brandon Soppy from Udinese.
Gasperini could be without Merih Demiral and Davide Zappacosta on Sunday, and centre-back Jose Luis Palomino is banned until his hearing later this year after failing a doping test.
AC Milan news
After scoring twice at San Siro last week, Ante Rebic is favourite to start up front for Milan at the Gewiss Stadium, with Divock Origi and Olivier Giroud consigned to the bench once again.
Belgian duo Alexis Saelemaekers and summer signing Charles De Ketelaere are both pushing to start in Bergamo.
Prediction and Odds
These two teams have clearly defined modes of play and a strongly-held identity, with this always being an intriguing match-up.
However, AC Milan are generally more effective and they can extend their winning run by coming out on top against opponents, who can barely buy a win on home soil.
Odds: 1 2.30 X 2.05 2 2.20
Probable outcomes
Atalanta 0-1 AC Milan
Atalanta 0-2 AC Milan
Atalanta 1-2 AC Milan
Atalanta 1-3 AC Milan
Atalanta 2-3 AC Milan
















