Gewiss Stadium serves as the setting for a mouth-watering Serie A top-four six-pointer between resurgent Atalanta and reigning champions Napoli.
Saturday’s showdown in Bergamo marks the beginning of a new era in the visiting dugout as newly-appointed Napoli boss Walter Mazzarri faces a tricky trip to Atalanta.
Following the euphoria that met their Serie A triumph last term, Napoli are finding it hard to replicate that success and are already ten points behind leaders Inter Milan after 12 games. Rudi Garcia opted to rest his main stars, Khvicha Kvaratshkelia and Piotr Zielinski, after the UEFA Champions League draw to Union Berlin.
The French manager left the duo on the bench for the home game against Serie A minnows Empoli a fortnight ago. With Victor Osimhen already sidelined with a long-term issue, that decision backfired massively as the Partenopei failed to find the back of the net in a dismal 0-1 home defeat to Empoli.
The board reacted immediately by parting ways with Rudi Garcia and appointing firefighter Walter Mazzarri as the new head coach. Mazzarri’s second spell starts against La Dea, who sit just one point and one place behind in the Serie A standings after a mixed start to the season.
Things are slowly starting to click for Gian Piero Gasperrini’s side recently, having won two and drawn one of their last four matches across all competitions. Atalanta’s only league home defeat came against Inter the last time they played on their own patch. Prior to that, they had won five and drawn one of six games, keeping a clean sheet in four straight games before that setback.
Team News & Tactics
Atalanta
Sotto sotto si vogliono bene ♥️
This is also love 🫶@Hans33Hateboer #Ruggeri #GoAtalantaGo ⚫️🔵 pic.twitter.com/09OG1wMfVu
— Atalanta B.C. (@Atalanta_BC) November 23, 2023
In addition to Matteo Ruggeri and Jose Luis Palomino, both of whom are sidelined by injury, plus longer-term absentees Emil Holm and El Bilal Toure, Atalanta will be without teenage defender Giorgio Scalvini, who was forced to withdraw from Luciano Spalletti’s Italy squad with a back problem. Midfield mainstay Marten de Roon must serve a one-match suspension due to yellow card accumulation.
Head coach Gian Piero Gasperini will hope to have Charles De Ketelaere. Otherwise, Ederson may drop back from midfield alongside Teun Koopmeiners. Hans Hateboer should take Ruggeri’s place, which would see Davide Zappacosta switch over to La Dea’s left flank.
Experienced centre-back Rafael Toloi will be back on Saturday after serving his ban for the red card he picked up against Inter. He will be part of the back three alongside Berat Djimsiti and Sead Kolasinac. Gasperini will stick to the 3-4-1-2 formation, where Juan Musso will be in goal.
Gasperini chose to start Mario Pasalic in a false-nine role alongside Luis Muriel and Aleksei Miranchuk in attack in the 1-1 draw against Udinese, but could revert at the weekend with the two-prone partnership of Gianluca Scamacca and Ademola Lookman, with Pasalic operating in the creative No. 10 role. De Ketelaere, Muriel, and Miranchuk are viable impact options off the bench.
Following a rocky start to the new campaign, Lookman is finally hitting his stride, racking up one goal and two assists in his last four Serie A appearances. Meanwhile, Scamacca has rediscovered his scoring boots and is enjoying a fruitful campaign in Serie A, with the Italian international leading the Atalanta charts, with five goals from nine games.
Probable Lineup (3-4-1-2): Musso; Toloi, Djimsiti, Kolasinac; Hateboer, Ederson, Koopmeiners, Zappacosta; Pasalic; Lookman, Scamacca
Napoli
After an underwhelming 16 games in charge of Napoli (W8 D4 L4), Rudi Garcia is now part of the club’s history. Walter Mazzarri, who inspired the Partenopei to Coppa Italia success during his first stint at the Diego Maradona Stadium with a very memorable side consisting of stars such as Edinson Cavani, Ezequiel Lavezzi, and Marek Hamsik, is back to pick up where he left off.
His first assignment will be to galvanise a faltering side, and he will need to navigate a period of transition for the club. As with any coaching change, there may be adjustments in playing style, tactics, and team dynamics. It is difficult to predict exactly how Mazzarri will set his side up, but an iteration of 4-3-3 seems likely.
🔋 Batteries recharged, let's get back to it!
💙 #ForzaNapoliSempre pic.twitter.com/xRSH4DHidJ
— Official SSC Napoli (@en_sscnapoli) November 23, 2023
The new Napoli boss would have been relieved to see striker Victor Osimhen (hamstring), star playmaker Piotr Zielinski (tonsillitis), and goalkeeper Alex Meret (calf) return to full training this week. Meanwhile, Kim Min-jae has been missed badly.
Their first-half error-prone performance against AC Milan highlighted the inconsistencies in their defence. But Leo Ostigard is at least a stabilising presence next to the risk-taking Amir Rrahmani. Dynamic full-backs Mathias Olivera and Giovanni Di Lorenzo will be trusted to pick out passes from deep as an auxiliary midfielder to exploit those gaps La Dea inevitably leave behind.
An attacking trio of Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Giacomo Raspadori, and Matteo Politano is one of the best and most dynamic front threes in Italian football, even without Osimhen. Kvaratskhelia was not the best version of himself under Garcia. But Raspadori and Matteo Politano have stepped up their game this term, with the latter now one of the best wingers in the division, with eight goal contributions in 11 games.
Probable Lineup (4-3-3): Meret; Di Lorenzo, Rrahmani, Ostigard, Olivera; Anguissa, Lobotka, Zielinski; Politano, Raspadori, Kvaratskhelia
Key Stats
- Napoli have only won once in their last four competitive games (D2 L1).
- The visitors’ have won the last three matches against Atalanta.
- There have been more than two goals in five of Napoli’s last seven league away games.
- Both teams have scored in eight of the last ten meetings.
- Napoli have scored two or more goals in two of its last three Serie A matches.
Player to Watch
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia
The 22-year-old Georgian winger exploded onto the scene in his debut season with the Partenopei, scoring 14 goals and providing 17 assists in his first 43 appearances. He was one of the stars of the show in Napoli’s historic Scudetto success last term and has shown flashes of brilliance this season, although he struggled to perform at his best under Rudi Garcia like many of his teammates.
While on international duty with Georgia, the in-demand left-winger announced his return to his best form with three goals in two Euro 2024 qualifiers against none other than Scotland and Spain.
Having seen Garcia get replaced by Walter Mazzarri and the talk over extending his existing contract, including a significant pay rise, intensifying, expect Kvaratskhelia to carry over his international goalscoring exploits here as he looks to add to his tally of three goals and four assists in his 11 Serie A appearances.
Prediction
Atalanta 1-1 Napoli
After a patchy start to the season and some unsettling off-pitch turmoil, a fresh face in the dugout could produce a new manager bounce and immediate results for Napoli, who have Real Madrid and Inter Milan up next in their packed schedules. While the visitors may not inflict a home defeat on an improving and tough-to-beat Atalanta side this weekend, Walter Mazzarri’s outfit could earn a share of the spoils.
Neither Atalanta nor Napoli have impressed in the final third lately. Considering the importance of the affair and the top-four implications it might carry, we can hardly envisage either outfit taking risks up front, which will make it a low-scoring stalemate, with clear-cut chances few and far between.
