Coppa Italia: Fiorentina vs Atalanta Betting Preview

Fiorentina host Atalanta in a Coppa Italia Semi Final 1^st leg tie with both clubs hoping to gain an edge before the 2^nd leg to put themselves in the drivers seat to make the cup final!

Fiorentina are showing some decent form as of late, they’re unbeaten in 9 however they have drawn 5 of those games and that has been the problem for them all season, they’ve just simply been drawing far too many games. Fiorentina are coming off a crazy 3-3 draw with Inter where they came back from 1-3 down and equalised in the 90+11 minute. Fiorentina have been on fire attack wise in this stretch having bagged 3+ goals in 4 of those 9 games.

Atalanta meanwhile have had a dip in form after their hot run of games where they played free flowing football scoring goals for fun. Atalanta have fell of as mentioned and are entering this tie having lost back to back games to AC Milan 1-3 and Torino 2-0 and are in need of a result to right the ship again.

Fiorentina have been near invincible at home all season long, only lost 2 games, however they have only won 2 of their last 9 at their home ground and again the issue has been they’ve simply been drawing too many games, drawing 5 of those previous 9 in front of their home fans so their home form hasn’t been quite good enough.

Atalanta meanwhile have actually been a better team on their travels than at home, if you look at Serie A, Atalanta have more away points than home, they score way more goals and concede more. Atalanta’s games tend to be more entertaining when they’re away and have much more goals. They do like their travels though for sure.

Despite their up and down league form, Fiorentina have actually bagged two very impressive Coppa Italia results after entering the 4^th round. They first beat a tough Torino team away from home 0-2 and then picked up their most impressive win of the season and probably in quite a long long time as they battered Roma 7-1 in the quarters, yes SEVEN ONE against Roma! Fiorentina have been letting their league frustrations out so far in the cup.

Atalanta have also entered in the 4^th round and their run hasn’t been any less impressive, they defeated Cagliari 0-2 and then stomped the Serie A clear and by far league leaders Juventus 3-0! Not too shabby themselves. Atalanta are looking for their first Coppa Italia since 1963 so the fans will for sure be hungry to win this cup.

Federico Chiesa is the man to watch from Fiorentina, he’s been lighting up the competition for fun with 5 goals in 2 apps in the Cup, he’s got 10 goals in total this season and will for sure be the danger man of Fiorentina when it comes to creating and potentially taking chances.

Duvan Zapata is clear and by far Atalanta’s biggest danger man, although he went scoreless in their last 2 defeats, he is the clubs top scorer and was riding some insanely hot form prior to that which Atalanta fans hope he recovers entering this tie. Zapata has 21 total goals this season already.

Fiorentina and Atalanta met each other once this season and Fiorentina were the home team and did pick up a 2-0 win in the league.

Fiorentina have an incredible unbeaten run going against Atalanta that has reached 14 games (10W 4D), although 4 of last 5 meetings did result with draws. Atalanta have not won this fixture since April 2012.

Dating back to 1999, Fiorentina have not lost a single home game to Atalanta going unbeaten in 18 straight (11W 7D). It’s pretty clear that this is a fixture that Fiorentina have been completely dominating in this millennium.

Fiorentina are tipped as slight bookies favourites at 2.55 while Atalanta to win is offered at 2.70 while draw is the least expected result at 3.45. Atalanta are however the favourites to make the Final at 1.55 to Fiorentina’s 2.35 odds despite all of their recent struggles against Fiorentina, Atalanta are considered as the better team this season so it shouldn’t be a surprise for them to get the favourites tag to make the final.

 

Team News

Fiorentina: Fiorentina are down a couple of key players including captain German Pezzella and Kevin Mirallas is also unavailable. Nikola Milenkovic is expected to play despite the flu and Luis Muriel should be available too.

Atalanta: Atalanta are at full strength, Papu Gomez is back from injury thus allowing Gian Piero Gasperini to choose the strongest possible squad for this match.

 

Betting Stats

*Stats will be based of Serie A to keep it as accurate as possible

Fiorentina have covered 50% of their total goal overs at home (6-6).

Fiorentina have covered 41.7% of their 1^st half goal overs at home (5-2-5).

Fiorentina average 3 bookings per game at home (36 bookings in 12 games). Feisty.

Jordan Veretout is Fiorentina’s top scorer at home with 4 home goals.

Fiorentina have covered 50% of their Handicaps at home (6-2-4).

Fiorentina have only covered 33.3% of their 1^st half Handicaps at home however (4-1-7). Better 2^nd half team.

Atalanta have covered 69.2% of their total overs away from home (9-4).

Atalanta have covered 46.2% of their total 1^st half overs away from home (6-4-3).

Atalanta average 2.23 bookings per game away from home (29 bookings in 13 games).

Duvan Zapata is Atalanta’s top scorer away from home with 10 away goals.

Atalanta have covered 61.5% of their Handicaps away from home (8-5).

Atalanta have covered 38.5% of their 1^st half Handicaps way from home (5-1-7).

 

KICK OFF – 27^th February 2019 – 8pm UK Time