Atalanta is hosting Empoli at Gewiss Stadium in round 38 of the Italian Serie A. Atalanta has been sloppy this season, they have been inconsistent, but in this game, Atalanta has to win. Empoli has nothing to play for, there are terrible on the defensive end, but they are scoring goals.
Atalanta has won only 2 of their last 10 games while losing in their last game against Milan. With 59 points, Atalanta is now in 8th place, and they have the same number of points as Fiorentina does in that Conference League spot. Not only does Atalanta has to win here, but they also need Fiorentina to lose or tie with Juventus. Even this inconsistent, Atalanta was able to score 65 goals this season, and Pasalic is their best player with 13 goals and 6 assists. The bad news for Atalanta is they have a lot of injuries, and players like Muriel, Toloi, and Mlinovskyi will miss this game. This is a do-or-die game for Atalanta, and I that even if they qualify for Europe, we can expect a coaching change in the offseason because Atalanta is not using all of their potentials.
As I’ve mentioned, Empoli is a terrible team on the defensive end with 70 conceded goals so far, but their offense has been pretty good with 49 scored goals. Empoli has been in a really bad form lately, well for most of the second half of the season, but luckily for them, they will stay in the league. Empoli has 38 points, and they are in 14th place. Pinamonti is the leading goalscorer for Empoli with 13 goals, while Bajrami and Zurkowski added 6 goals. Bajrami has added 4 assists. There are a few injuries in Empoli as well, not that it would help them. Empoli’s only goal was to stay in the league, and thanks to a solid first half of the season, they have done that, and with the defense they have, that is impressive.
Atalanta hasn’t been the greatest home team this season, but the Conference League is at stake here and they need to step up. As bad as Atalanta is this season, Empoli is about 6 times worse, and they will lose in this game. There is no value in taking Atalanta, but with Empoli scoring a lot, we can add both teams to score to that Atalanta pick.