Overview
After 9 seasons and 342 matches in Serie A with Atalanta - culminating in the 2024 Europa League championship - Gian Piero Gasperini is now returning to the place that once brought him to the peak of glory, but this time in the role of Roma head coach.
The last time Gasperini came to Bergamo as coach of the away team was nearly 10 years ago, when he was still leading Genoa. To date, this veteran strategist has only lost 4 out of 14 encounters with La Dea.
Roma entered this round with the goal of winning all 3 points in the fierce top 4 race. Before Christmas, Giallorossi only earned 3 points after 4 Serie A matches, significantly affecting their ambition to return to the Champions League.
However, "Gasp" managed to pull the capital team back to the race when they surpassed another old team. Goals in the first half from Matias Soule, Manu Kone and Evan Ferguson helped Roma defeat Genoa at the Stadio Olimpico.
Thanks to that, Roma is only 3 points behind the top and is progressing based on the best defensive foundation in the league. They have only conceded 11 goals after 17 Serie A matches. Last season, the capital team kept the clean sheet the most in the league (18 matches). Entering the final stage of the season, they even surpassed Napoli and Inter in terms of points won, thereby raising the total score to 82 as of the beginning of this week.
However, before the away match to Bergamo, Roma brought a worrying statistic. They lost all 3 of their recent away matches, and only won 1 of their previous 7 away matches.
On the opposite side, Atalanta is maintaining an impressive scoring pace, averaging more than 2 goals per game in the recent 7-match streak. La Dea has also won 5 of the last 6 Serie A matches, both at home and away.
Notably, Atalanta has a chance to win their fourth consecutive victory against Roma in Serie A for the first time. However, the post-Gasperini period, which started turbulently, shows that this task is not simple.
After quickly parting ways with his successor Ivan Juric, new coach Raffaele Palladino has at least helped the team stabilize again. Atalanta is currently aiming for a spot in the top 8 of the Champions League, and they had a 4-game winning streak at home before welcoming Inter.
However, La Dea once again succumbed to Nerazzurri when they let Lautaro Martinez score in the second half, closing the year 2025 with a disappointing result. Once considered a championship contender until February, the Lombardy team finally recorded the lowest win rate in a calendar year since 2016 - meaning Palladino still has a lot of work to do.
Another notable point is that Atalanta has only won 4 points after 7 matches against teams in the top half of the rankings this season, and has only scored 4 goals in those matches. Therefore, the Roma confrontation is considered a suitable time for them to break the trend of exhaustion against the direct competing group.
Personnel situation
Raffaele Palladino still cannot have Ademola Lookman. The Nigerian striker, as well as Ivory Coast defender Odilon Kossounou, are on duty at the African Cup, while winger Raoul Bellanova is absent due to injury.
Without Lookman, Atalanta will have to rely on Gianluca Scamacca in the main role in attack. However, the Italian international possesses a not very positive statistic. He has played 252 minutes in Serie A against Roma - a childhood team - but has not yet scored, Scamacca's worst record against any other opponent.
On Roma's side, Bryan Cristante is predicted to start in midfield, in the context that the capital team is still lacking Moroccan star Neil El Aynaoui. Center-back Evan Ndicka is also participating in AFCON, while Lorenzo Pellegrini will continue to be absent due to hamstring injury.
Expected lineup:
Carnesecchi, Djimsiti, Hien, Kolasinac, Zalewski, De Roon, Ederson, Bernasconi, De Ketelaere, Pasalic, Scamacca.
Svilar, Mancini, Ziolkowski, Hermoso, Celik, Kone, Cristante, Wesley, Soule, Dybala, Ferguson.
The match between Atalanta and Roma takes place at 2:45 AM on January 4th (Vietnam time).
