The two teams are in polar moods and forms coming into the clash, as Atalanta have been flying high while Sassuolo are in a prolonged slump but aren’t new to pulling off upsets.
Serie A Week 25– Saturday 17 February 2024 – Gewiss Stadium | Preview by Enrico Passarella
Atalanta
Atalanta have caught fire in recent weeks and, if their past provides any indication, they won’t stop anytime soon and might be the biggest threat to the teams currently on the outside looking in the Champions League zone. There’s still a chance they switch their attention to the Europa League to chase after a trophy that has eluded them for years and that they’d arguably deserve, but they might actually have the men to juggle two competitions without missing a beat.
Despite some tension between the management and Gian Piero Gasperini in the summer, which he personally and openly stocked, the squad is shaped exactly how he likes it thanks to the Rasmus Hojlund windfall. They are extremely deep up front, even exaggeratedly so, in good shape on the wings and instead shallower in the midfield and in the back, where he likes to use trusted lieutenants as much as possible.
The boss loves to ride the hot hand offensively, and Charles De Ketelaere has been incandescent in recent rounds. They have rebuilt him from the ground up in just a few months after his terrible Milan season. He has been putting on a show not only thanks to his flawless technique, but also displaying unsuspected pace, physicality, and leadership, which just weren’t there during his time with the Rossoneri. Considering the sizeable figures of his transfer, it was hard to imagine he could actually become a bargain, but that will be the case if he keeps going.
Ademola Lookman carried them scoring-wise before AFCON, and it’ll be interesting to see how they’ll integrate the two. They’ll find a way, and the manager isn’t averse to experimenting within the confines of his formation. They have tried the Belgian as a false-nine a couple of times, with so-so results. After his teammate left, he has been a terror while starring on either flank.
Considering his size and playing style, the Nigerian star is at his best on the left wing, where he has more room to operate. Perhaps they’ll go back to a pure two-man attack with a no.10, rather than two supporting players wide and a central reference point like in recent fixtures. The super-duper version of their frontline, with Lookman, De Ketelaere, and Gianluca Scamacca or El Bilal Touré all together will make an appearance here and there, but it might lead to some balance issues, and they prefer using Teun Koopmeiners in a more attacking role rather than as a pure midfielder. Either way, Gian Piero Gasperini always throws in fresh men for the final stretch of each game if everybody is available, and perhaps the solution will be as simple as that.
They have had one hit and one miss with their summer reinforcements on the wings. It took Emil Holm a few months, but he eventually won the coach over and supplanted Davide Zappacosta on the right flank. The veteran is solid, but the former Spezia prodigy is simply a lot more energetic and muscular and has a way higher ceiling. He’s just scratching the surface, and it might not be long before he’s a proper weapon. Instead, Mitchel Bakker failed to do the same on the other side of the pitch, where they have struggled to find a top player after the departure of Robin Gosens. Matteo Ruggeri has been very serviceable and is a great crosser. However, their scheme would be even more menacing if they had a scoring threat there too. Their youth product doesn’t cut and isn’t a presence in the box.
The gaffer was a little too reluctant in handing over the starting job between the sticks to Marco Carnesecchi, and Juan Musso fought valiantly to keep it, but he eventually did just as the alternation was starting to become a problem and affect their confidence. The youngster has been brilliant and is perfectly shielded by an unheralded defense, besides Giorgio Scalvini. Sead Kolasinac has been a day-one starter for good reasons. He’s perfectly suited for the braccetto role, and they would have been in big trouble sans him due to Rafael Toloi’s injury woes. Berat Djimsiti isn’t flashy but gets the job done every time and rarely makes mistakes. The peak version of January newcomer Isak Hien is potentially better, but he hasn’t been that this season. Perhaps the change of scenery will help him.
Their form, depth, and versatility will be put to the test in the coming weeks, as they are embarking upon a brutal stretch. After this one, they’ll take on Milan, Inter, Bologna, Juventus, Fiorentina, and Napoli in consecutive fixtures. They usually show up in big games, and some of those sides are floundering. If they can pick up three or four wins, they’ll cruise the rest of the way.
Expected XI (3-4-2-1): Carnesecchi; Scalvini, Djimsiti, Kolasinac; Holm, De Roon, Ederson, Ruggeri; Koopmeiners, De Ketelaere; Scamacca.
Doubts: Holm/Zappacosta, Scamacca/Miranchuk.
Injury Report: Hien (thigh strain) – Probable;
Lookman (ankle sprain) – Doubtful.
Palomino (thigh strain ) – Out.
Sassuolo
Sassuolo have had quite the fall from grace this season, and the hopes to have a serene campaign went down the drain once Domenico Berardi suffered a substantial knee injury. They have more substitutes for him than in the past, but nobody comes close to his level. Cristan Volpato looked the best out of the bunch, but he got hurt right after scoring a pretty goal and missed the last game. He’s available but might be managed.
Things have gotten so dire that they are considering a coaching change to bring in a new voice who could perhaps revive the team. It’d be a lateral move, as Alessio Dionisi is a fine gaffer, although not really on the cutting edge stylistically. Even if they wouldn’t be able to do much better, perhaps they’d benefit from it since a few of their linchpins are underperforming.
While they are getting a bounce-back season from Andrea Pinamonti, Armand Laurienté has been moody and pedestrian all year long, especially considering how well he had performed in previous instances when he was running the show. Matheus Henrique also hasn’t been as brilliant as in 2022/2023 either, but the reasons might be tactical. They play differently without Davide Frattesi, and his current role limits his offensive forays. They aren’t too far off since they mostly use the physical Kristjan Thorsvedt as a no.10, but maybe switching back to a pure three-man midfield would help. Daniel Boloca, who’s also in a funk after a solid start, isn’t an old-fashioned regista but wouldn’t have trouble handling the role. The slightly different formation would better protect the defense, which has been a sore spot, and reduce the burden on the attackers.
They have reached the point where it’d be dangerous to sit idly and bank just on the fact that their superior quality will drag them out of the mud. They are better than most sides below or right above them in the standings, but that doesn’t mean they can flip a switch and march toward a comfortable position. Sometimes things get very ugly when finesse teams who weren’t supposed to be there are sucked into the race to avoid relegation. For starters, they should begin showing more energy, cohesion, and sense of urgency.
We’ll see whether their current coach will get the message across, or they’ll need a new one to change the tune. They’ll run into a side that’s literally raining hellfire, so it wouldn’t be totally fair if this were the decider for the gaffer, even though he has made a living on picking off top teams during his tenure. Despite the morass, they have done that this season too, but a couple of high-profile wins aren’t enough to carry them if they don’t show up and play with the same vigor in easier ones.
Even though they technically have enough depth, they should have been more active in January. They might have had some financial limitations, and the lack of departures didn’t help, but another impactful winger would have helped since Samu Castillejo, Gregoire Defrel, and Emil Ceide haven’t contributed much. Another central midfielder wouldn’t have hurt either, even though Luca Lipani showed well when given the chance, especially a fiery one who could rally the troops. They don’t have that kind of player in any role. Instead, they mostly stood pat, simply replacing Matias Vina, who was on loan from Roma, with Josh Doig, who’s an interesting prospect who has yet to prove he can hang defensively as a left-back in Serie A.
It looks like Berardi will be out a while longer, so they’ll have to lean on their current pieces for a turnaround in short order. Given their nature, perhaps a meeting with a big side is what they need to light a fire under them. Chances are they’ll eventually put the pieces together and go on a strong run that carries them out of trouble, but they have yet to find the spark that ignites that process first.
Expected XI (4-2-3-1): Consigli; Pedersen, Ruan, Ferrari, Doig; Boloca, Henrique; Castillejo, Thorstvedt, Laurienté; Pinamonti.
Doubts: Ferrari/Viti, Boloca/Lipani, Castillejo/Volpato.
Injury Report: Boloca (illness), Doig (knee bruise), Volpato (muscle fatigue) – Probable.
Erlic (muscle fatigue), Berardi (knee sprain), Toljan (thigh strain), Obiang (thigh tendon tear) – OUT
Prediction
Atalanta Win – Over 2.5 Goals
