AS Roma will welcome Atalanta to Stadio Olimpico this Saturday for another exciting Serie A game.
Venue: Satdio Olimpico
Key Statistics
AS Roma are unbeaten in six consecutive Serie A games for the first time under the management of José Mourinho.
If he features this weekend, then Henrikh Mkhitaryan will be making his 250th appearance in Europe’s big five leagues; since making his Bundesliga debut in 2013/14, he’s one of four midfielders who have scored at least 60 goals and created at least 60 in this period (the others are Dimitri Payet, Kevin De Bruyne and Ángel di María).
Atalanta have not scored in three of their last four Serie A road games.
The last time Atalanta failed to score in more consecutive away games in the competition was in November 2015 (four, against Fiorentina, Juventus, Bologna and Milan), under Edoardo Reja.
Roma are the team against which Atalanta have scored the most goals in Serie A: 138 across 119 previous meetings.
Head to head
Atalanta have won six of the last 15 head-to-head meetings between both sides (L3, D6).
Latest performances in all competitions
AS Roma: W-D-D-L-D
Atalanta: W-W-L-W-D
AS Roma
After a series of poor results, AS Roma got their top-six push back on track with a win over Spezia lady time out
The hosts needed a 99th-minute goal by Tammy Abraham- their latest in Serie A history – to win 1-0 against Spezia. The result extended their unbeaten run to six games and is their longest unbeaten SA run under boss José Mourinho (W3, D3).
The last time the Giallorossi went further than six games without defeat was in November 2020, when they put together a seven-game run under Paulo Fonseca.
Mourinho’s side come into this tie sitting fifth on the table, three points behind their visitors. A win here would see them leapfrog Atalanta into fifth with Champions League qualification still a possibility.
However, the hosts are in uninspiring home form after drawing their last two SA home games, and could draw three games in a row at the Stadio Olimpico in a single campaign for the first time since March 2015, a season they finished second.
Possible AS Roma starting line-up
Rui Patricio, Rick Karsdorp, Chris Smalling, Marash Kumbulla, Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Sergio Oliveira, Bryan Cristante, Matias Vina, Lorenzo Pellegrini, Tammy Abraham, Cristian Volpato.
Injured: Leonardo Spinazzola, Sergio Oliveira
Doubtful: Felix Afena-Gyan, Pietro Boer
Suspended: None
Atalanta
Atalanta ended a run of five games without a win in the league when they beat Sampdoria 4-0 last Monday.
The visitors come into this latest round of fixtures sitting in fifth place on 47 points and three behind fourth-placed Juventus with a game in hand.
They can temporarily move into the Champions League group stage spot if they win this game.
After losing 4-1 in Bergamo in the reverse fixture, ‘La Dea’ will be desperate to avenge themselves and avoid losing two league games in the same season against Roma.
Gian Piero Gasperini’s side became the last side across the top-five European leagues to lose an away match this season when they lost 1-0 to Fiorentina in their last away outing. They boast a decent away record in this campaign and have so far registered nine wins, and three draws away from Gewiss Stadium.
Despite that impressive road record, Atalanta have still failed to score in three of their last four SA away games.
However, given their record in this fixture, a trip to Roma is perhaps the perfect tonic to get back on the scoring trail, as they’ve scored in every SA away H2H since October 2012.
Possible Atalanta starting line-up
Juan Musso, Rafael Toloi, Merih Demiral, Berat Djimsiti; Davide Zappacosta, Remo Freuler, Teun Koopmeiners, Joakim Maehle; Ruslan Malinovskyi, Mario Pasalic, Jeremie Boga.
Injured: Duvan Zapata
Doubtful: Josip Iličić
Suspended: None
Prediction
AS Roma 2-3 Atalanta
