Atalanta will be looking to quickly bounce back to winning ways in Serie A when they make a trip to take on Lecce on Wednesday.
While the hosts have not tasted victory since the middle of September and look set for a relegation fight, the visitors have struggled against their rivals at the top of the league standings in recent occasions.
Lecce are finding life difficult in Italy’s top flight amongst some of the elite sides in world football, with survival the sole aim for a club that has not had consecutive seasons in Serie A since the early 2010s.
Although they are relatively hard to beat, an inability to collect maximum points from matches has hindered Lecce’s progress up the standings severely, managing just a single victory in the league to date.
This midweek fixture against Atalanta is Lecce’s final home game before the World Cup halts league proceedings until next year, with Marco Baroni’s side yet to record a win at home, athough they have been a tough team to defeat at Stadio Comunale Via del Mare, losing just twice in six home matches so far this season.
Atalanta are currently fourth in Serie A having collected 27 points from 13 matches, however an unbeaten start from Napoli means they are eight points off the summit of the table heading into the midweek.
Gian Piero Gasperini’s side have been exceptional travellers so far this season, winning five games and drawing one of their six away matches, with only Napoli boasting more away points at this stage of the season.
No side can match Atalanta’s defensive record away from home, having conceded just twice in six games, with both of those goals allowed coming in a 2-2 draw at the Dacia Arena with Udinese at the start of October.
Lecce vs Atalanta head to head
These two teams have previously met on 18 occasions in two competitions, where Lecce have claimed three victories while Atalanta have won eight, and they have drawn in seven. Lecce have scored 21 goals and conceded 30. In their last five meetings, Atalanta have won three while they have drawn two.
Lecce 2-2 Atalanta 22/03/09
Lecce 1-2 Atalanta 21/09/11
Atalanta 0-0 Lecce 12/02/12
Atalanta 3-1 Lecce 06/10/19
Lecce 2-7 Atalanta 01/03/20
Lecce latest home form
Lecce were beaten 1-0 by Juventus in their last home game in the league. However, they have recently been on a relatively good run of form at home, as they have been unbeaten in their previous four games. In their last five matches, they have scored four goals and conceded five.
Lecce 1-1 Empoli 28/08/22
Lecce 1-1 Monza 11/09/22
Lecce 1-1 Cremonese 02/10/22
Lecce 1-1 Fiorentina 17/10/22
Lecce 0-1 Juventus 29/10/22
Lecce latest away form
Lecce have recently failed to keep a good run of form on the road, having won just one of their eight most recent matches. They drew 1-1 with Udinese in their last away game in the league. In their last five matches, they have scored four goals and conceded seven.
Torino 1-0 Lecce 05/09/22
Salernitana 1-2 Lecce 16/09/22
Roma 2-1 Lecce 09/10/22
Bologna 2-0 Lecce 23/10/22
Udinese 1-1 Lecce 04/11/22
Atalanta latest home form
Atalanta have recently failed to keep a good run of form at home, as they have lost each of their two most recent matches. They were beaten 2-1 by Napoli in their last home game in the league. In their last five matches, they have scored five goals and conceded six.
Atalanta 1-1 Cremonese 11/09/22
Atalanta 1-0 Fiorentina 02/10/22
Atalanta 2-1 Sassuolo 15/10/22
Atalanta 0-2 Lazio 23/10/22
Atalanta 1-2 Napoli 05/11/22
Atalanta latest away form
Atalanta have recently been on a good run of form on the road, having been unbeaten in their six most recent matches. They managed to defeat Empoli 2-0 in their last away game in the league. In their last five matches, they have scored eight goals and conceded just two.
Verona 0-1 Atalanta 28/08/22
Monza 0-2 Atalanta 05/09/22
Roma 0-1 Atalanta 18/09/22
Udinese 2-2 Atalanta 09/10/22
Empoli 0-2 Atalanta 30/10/22
Lecce news
Lecce could be without defender Samuel Umtiti for this contest after the former Barcelona man was forced off early in the second period at Udinese with a back issue.
Lorenzo Colombo scored his second goal of the season last time out, and should be rewarded with another start alongside top scorer Gabriel Strefezza.
Atalanta news
The visitors will remain without Davide Zappacosta due to a muscle injury that has seen him play no part for Atalanta since a 2-0 away victory over Monza back in September.
That means Joakim Maehle will continue in a left wing-back role, but Luis Muriel is also sidelined due to a tendon injury.
Prediction and Odds
Lecce have been in poor form this season and need to start picking up wins if they are to avoid being relegated to Serie B just after a season in the top flight.
We expect them to give Atalanta a tough game, but the visitors’ impressive away record leads us to predict an away win.
Odds: 1 3.10 X 2.10 2 1.89
Probable outcomes
Lecce 0-1 Atalanta
Lecce 0-2 Atalanta
Lecce 1-2 Atalanta
Lecce 0-3 Atalanta
Lecce 1-3 Atalanta
