Prediction Serie A - Napoli vs Atalanta

Serie A - Napoli vs Atalanta
Match Time: 30-03-2024 19:30 Saturday (GMT+8)
Football Livescore | Match Prediction & Tips
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Napoli

Last season's Scudetto winners grudgingly passed the baton to Serie A's champions-elect Inter Milan just before international football intervened, as Napoli fought back to earn a 1-1 draw at San Siro.

Ex-Inter defender Juan Jesus scored the Partenopei's late leveller, but his post-match accusation of racist language from Francesco Acerbi was recently denied by Italian football's sports judge - in protest, Napoli will not wear the regular 'Keep Racism Out' badge this weekend.

Despite being knocked out of the Champions League by Barcelona, the Campanian club have experienced something of a revival under interim manager Francesco Calzona, who is back in Naples on a short-term contract before steering Slovakia through Euro 2024 in the summer.

Though still 31 points adrift of Inter in the Serie A standings, Napoli have suffered just one loss from seven since Calzona took the reins, and they are enjoying their best unbeaten run in the league since early last year, when they put together eight straight wins en route to the title.

Under three different head coaches, they have struggled to match expectations on home turf this term, but the Partenopei will now be aiming to prolong a seven-match streak without defeat at Stadio Maradona, which dates back to December.

Napoli have won their last four league matches against Atalanta, including this season's 2-1 victory in Bergamo, so securing a win that takes them above their opponents in the table is the hosts' main target on Saturday.

Atalanta

Atalanta last kicked a ball in Serie A some three weeks ago, as a tragic event saw their most recent fixture postponed shortly before kickoff; Fiorentina director Joe Barone was taken ill and rushed to hospital, so the game was called off. Not long after, news emerged that he had passed away.

Therefore, the last time La Dea saw competitive action was a comeback win over Sporting Lisbon in the second leg of their Europa League last-16 tie, when second-half strikes from Ademola Lookman and Gianluca Scamacca secured both a 3-2 aggregate success and a mouthwatering quarter-final against Liverpool.

Gian Piero Gasperini's side have, however, accrued just two points from their last four league matches and are now in danger of going five games without a Serie A victory for the first time since February 2022.

Occupying sixth place with 10 games to play, Atalanta sit seven points adrift of fourth-placed Bologna and four behind rejuvenated Roma; fifth place could yet be enough to secure a slot in next year's expanded Champions League, though, and they have one game in hand on everyone except Fiorentina.

In addition to their rescheduled league contest against the Viola, La Dea must soon tackle the Tuscan team twice in a two-legged Coppa Italia semi-final, the first leg of which comes at Stadio Franchi next Wednesday.

Prediction: Napoli 1-1 Atalanta