Atalanta vs. Sassuolo 6/21/20 Serie A Soccer Pick, Odds, and Prediction

Atalanta is welcoming Sassuolo to Gewiss Stadium in part of round 25 of Italian Serie A.

Atalanta is having an amazing season, both in Serie A and in the Champions League, and before the season was paused, Atalanta was on a 5-game winning streak, with at least two scored goals in each of those games. In the Serie A standings, Atalanta is in 4th place with 48 points, but what makes Atalanta better than everyone else in Serie A is the amount of scored goals. Atalanta has scored massive 70 goals in 25 games, that an average of almost 3 scored goals per game. Their defense hasn’t been on the same level, but still solid with 34 conceded goals. Atalanta has also advanced to the quarterfinals of the Champions League after destroying Valencia in the round of 16. In their last Serie A game against Lecce on the road, Atalanta was the better team with 66% of ball possession, 10 shots on goal, 11 corner kicks, and 86% of the correct passes. The first half ended in a 2-2 draw, but the second half belonged to Atalanta when they managed to score 5 goals and Atalanta has won this game 2-7. Ilicic is the leading goal scorer for Atalanta with 15 goals, while Muriel added 13 goals and Zapata 11 goals. Papu Gomez has 8 assists this season. There are no injuries or suspensions in Atalanta’s roster. I knew Atalanta is a good team, and I was expecting them to be in the top half of the table, but I didn’t expect this from Atalanta. They are playing fantastic soccer on both ends, and I hope they can stay this high in Serie A.

Sassuolo is a solid team that has its moments and can beat anyone if they are playing at the top of their game. Sassuolo is in 11th place with 32 points, 41 scored goals, and 39 conceded goals. Before the season was put on hold, Sassuolo has lost only 1 of their last 6 Serie A games. During that stretch, Sassuolo has scored 11 goals, while conceding 5 goals. Caputo is the leading goal scorer for Sassuolo, while Berardi added 9 goals. Romagna is the only injured player for Sassuolo, and he won’t be playing again this season. In their last Serie A match against Brescia at home, Sassuolo has had 70% of ball possession, 7 shots on goal, 5 corner kicks, and a high 92% of the correct passes. Despite playing against one of the weakest teams in Serie A, this was one of the best games Sassuolo has played this season and they won this match 3-0. Sassuolo is only 7 points away from the Europa League spot, but something miraculous would need to happen for them to get there because Roma and Napoli are much better teams, but Sassuolo is certainly capable of making their lives harder.

The trends are heavily on Atalanta’s side, but it’s hard to predict how the teams will react after not playing a game in over 3 months. Because Atalanta is the better team and with more depth, I will side with the home team.