Atalanta vs Inter Milan: Match Preview

It is very apparent that Inter Milan have been stumbling lately. Tuesday’s late loss to Real Madrid in the Champions League left even more questions for Antonio Conte to answer about his team this season despite decent performances. However, Inter have another chance to begin to right the ship and get the season rolling on Sunday as they make the short trip to Bergamo to face Gian Piero Gasperini’s Atalanta.

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Like Inter, Atalanta are also coming off of a loss in the Champions League. A 5-0 home drubbing at the hands of Premier League Champions Liverpool on Tuesday leaves La Dea third in their group, behind Liverpool and Ajax. In Serie A, they currently find themselves in fourth place, but with two heavy losses already to Napoli and Sampdoria. Despite the two league losses, they are still as dangerous as ever in attack with the likes of Papu Gomez, Duvan Zapata, Josip Ilicic, and Luis Muriel as options.

Elsewhere in the Atalanta team, it has been reported that wingbacks Robin Gosens and Hans Hateboer, as well as midfielder Marten De Roon, and center back Cristian Romero, all trained separately from the main squad on Friday and risk missing the match on Sunday.

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Inter’s back and forth loss to Real Madrid proved to be another notch in their count of disappointing results so far this season. Despite the results, Inter very well could have come out on top in a number of recent draws, namely against Shakhtar and Parma. There is also hope on the horizon, as Milan Skriniar has recovered from COVID and Romelu Lukaku’s recovery efforts mean he could be on the bench as early as Sunday. If Inter can begin to put positive results on the end of their performances, the season may begin to trend upwards. A big win against Atalanta could be a perfect statement for Conte and his team. With Inter likely fielding their first choice back three for just the second time this season, there may be reason to be confident for the visiting Nerazzurri.

Previous Results

1-1 (H) - 11/1/2020

0-2 (A) - 1/8/2020

Predicted Starting XIs

Prediction: Atalanta 2-2 Inter

Both teams have found it difficult to keep the ball out of their own nets and both will be looking to avoid a second consecutive loss. While Inter handled Atalanta surprisingly well in August, this match is not the last of the season, and there is still everything to play for this season. Atalanta’s attack will be looking for goals and with Inter’s center back inconsistencies lately, it is likely there will be no clean sheet. Look for Lautaro Martinez to try to continue on from finding the back of the net against Real Madrid and Achraf Hakimi to make up for his shaky performance in Madrid with Gosens likely out. This one should be end to end and neither team will settle for a loss. In recent seasons, these teams have split points at least once each season, and it is possible that they continue that pattern.