Atalanta BC - Empoli predictions and free betting tips [28/04/2024]

On Sunday, 28th April as part of the 34th round of Italy's Serie A, Atalanta will host Empoli on their home ground. While La Dea advanced to the national cup final last week by defeating Fiorentina, the visitors revelled in a publicity stunt against Napoli last weekend, taking one step closer to maintaining their status in the elite.

Predicted Lineups

Atalanta: Carnesecchi; De Roon, Hien, Djimsiti; Hateboer, Pasalic, Ederson, Ruggeri; Miranchuk, Lookman; Scamacca.
Empoli: Caprile; Bereszynski, Walukiewicz, Luperto; Gyasi, Grassi, Fazzini, Pezzella; Zurkowski, Cambiaghi; Niang.

Stadium

The match will take place in Bergamo at the Atleti Azzurri Stadium.

Atalanta

Currently in 7th place in the Serie A table, with a game in hand and trailing the top five by 4 points, Atalanta is on the hunt for a Champions League spot. However, in recent weeks Gian Piero Gasperini’s charges have slowed down: 2 wins in the last 8 rounds, 3 draws and 3 defeats. After trashing Napoli (0:3) on the road, the blue whites then had unfortunate performances against Cagliari (2:1 loss) and Verona (2:2 draw), after which they won in Monza last weekend (1:2).

This week La Dea put up an impressive performance against Fiorentina (4:1), which allowed the club to book their place in the Coppa Italia final (after a 1:0 defeat in the first match)—substitutes Ademola Lookman and Mario Pasalic scored the decisive goals. In the Europa League, Atalanta recently demolished Liverpool (3:1 on aggregate) and will face Marseille in the semi-final.

Empoli

Empoli is still far from officially securing their place in the elite division and holds the 15th position in the Serie A table. The hosts are only three points ahead of Udinese, who are in 18th place, as no less than seven teams are fighting to avoid filling the two vacant positions in the trio of outsiders, alongside the already relegated Salernitana. Nonetheless, Davide Nicola’s charges have picked up good momentum in April: they won 2 of their last 3 league games and lost just once.

Following a 1:0 defeat against Lecce, Empoli, backed by their own fans, beat Torino (3:2) and Napoli (1:0) last weekend—the decisive goal being a perfect header by Alberto Cerri in the 4th minute of the match. It is important to note that Empoli has not been able to win consecutive league games for almost a year!
The away side shows more than a decent performance: 15 points in 16 away games, scored 13 goals, conceded 26.

Head-to-Head

Having only managed to win one in their last six away games against Atalanta, Empoli lost in Bergamo with a score of 2:1 last season. The first-leg duel ended with a crushing 0:3 victory for Gasperini's charges.

Prediction for the match: Atalanta – Empoli

Scoring an average of over two goals per home game this season, Atalanta is a clear favourite to win, despite being stretched across three fronts. The hosts' forwards are in good form in the final weeks of the season, so Gian Piero Gasperini can afford to rotate the squad without any loss in quality. Empoli is significantly inferior to their opponents in class and is unlikely to be able to take any points from Bergamo.

Betting on the total

Atalanta has scored 10 goals in the last 5 rounds and boasts a quality attack line, while Empoli concedes almost 1.8 goals per away match. My prediction is the favourite's individual total over 1.5 goals.

Betting on corners

Atalanta surpasses the rival in class and will hold the initiative throughout the match. I am betting on the hosts' individual total over 5.5 corners.

Betting on cards

Empoli will spend most of the match time defending, so I am predicting the visitors’ triumph in yellow cards.

Score prediction

I'm betting on an exact score of 2:0 in favour of Atalanta.