Atalanta BC head into their Serie A encounter with Sampdoria knowing that the door has been left ajar for them to claim second spot by the end of the season.
Meanwhile, Sampdoria make the trip to the Gewiss Stadium sitting seven points clear of the relegation zone after recording back-to-back victories.
Match preview
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Given the points gap between third and fifth spot, fourth-placed Atalanta have effectively had the freedom to play attacking football for each match in its entirety for a number of months.
On the back of 10 successive wins in all competitions, Gian Piero Gasperini is unlikely to change his approach any time soon, but their run of form has put the club in closer proximity to second spot.
With Lazio and Inter Milan both losing at the weekend, Atalanta are now just five points adrift of their most realistic target, a position which they have never achieved in their history.
Although a trip to Juventus is due at the end of the week, there is no fear within this squad, who have recently added clean sheets to go with their relentless return in the final third.
Atalanta are 17 goals short of reaching treble figures, which would represent an astonishing achievement for a club who are not in contention for the league title.
Nevertheless, if Gasperini can ensure that everything continues to click in defence, they could emerge as Juventus' closest challengers over the next 12 months.
From Sampdoria's perspective, they will be relieved that they can travel to the Gewiss Stadium having created some space between themselves and the bottom three.
While two wins against any opposition would have been welcomed, they have been recorded against Lecce and SPAL, two of the sides occupying spots in the relegation zone.
Claudio Ranieri also required those results to boost his own standing in the dugout after previously overseeing just six victories from 22 games in charge, suffering 11 defeats.
The veteran boss and I Blucerchiati still have work to do in order to remain in the top flight, but this game arguably comes at an ideal time ahead of more winnable games over the next two weeks.
Atalanta BC Serie A form: WWWWWW
Sampdoria Serie A form: WLLLWW
Team News
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Having witnessed his side run out 3-0 winners over SPAL, Ranieri could opt to select the same Sampdoria XI.
However, Gasperini is expected to make a number of alterations after resting several players for the game at Cagliari.
Pierluigi Gollini will return between the sticks, while Rafael Toloi and Berat Djimsiti should feature in a back three.
Robin Gosens and Alejandro Gomez may come in at left wing-back and attacking midfield respectively, with Duvan Zapata in line to take the place of Luis Muriel in attack.
Atalanta BC possible starting lineup:
Gollini; Toloi, Caldara, Djimsiti; Hateboer, Roon, Pasalic, Gosens; Gomez; Zapata, Malinovskiy
Sampdoria possible starting lineup:
Audero; Bereszynski; Yoshida, Colley, Murru; Depaoli, Vieira, Ekdal, Linetty; Gabbiadini, Bonazzoli
We say: Atalanta BC 4-1 Sampdoria
Despite Sampdoria's recent revival, there is every chance that they will not be any match for this relentless Atalanta side. Although the home team may find themselves under slightly more pressure, it should not hinder their efforts on Wednesday evening.
Darren Plant
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Atalanta BC win with a probability of 69.87%. A draw had a probability of 17.2% and a win for Sampdoria had a probability of 12.98%.
The most likely scoreline for an Atalanta BC win was 2-0 with a probability of 9.98%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (9.55%) and 1-0 (8.2%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (7.85%), while for a Sampdoria win it was 1-2 (3.75%). The actual scoreline of 2-0 was predicted with a 10% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted a 2-0 win for Atalanta BC in this match.
