Prediction Of Atalanta BC Vs. Torino: La Dea Relives Ambitious Rebut Title A

Mateo Retegui, this season impressed with Atalanta (photo: x @Atalanta_BC)

JAKARTA - Atalanta BC will return to Serie A competition on Saturday 1 February when they host Torino at the Gewiss Stadium. After securing a place in the Champions League playoffs, La Dea are now trying to revive their ambitions in the race for the Serie A title which is starting to fade.

However, Torino, who are in positive form, came to Bergamo with the aim of winning and extending their unbeaten record.

In the middle of the week, Atalanta showed an extraordinary character during their 2-2 draw against Barcelona at Camp Nou in the final match of the Champions League group phase. Goals from Ederson and Mario Pasic ensured they were able to keep up with the Spanish giants, although they had to settle for just occupying the playoffs.

Now, Gian Piero Gasperini must prepare his team for a challenge in the domestic league. A 2-1 win over Como last week ended a bad four-match winless trend in Serie A, but they are still seven points behind leaders Napoli.

Atalanta remains one of the most difficult teams to beat this season, losing just once in their last 17 league games. However, their home performance will be tested by Torino, who managed to win twice in the last three meetings against La Dea, including Turin's 2-1 win in August.

On the other hand, Torino entered this match with high confidence after a 2-0 win over Cagliari last weekend. Che Adams' two goals confirmed the win, extending their unbeaten record to five league games.

Despite having had a difficult period with just one win in 12 games, Paolo Vanoli's side are now back in the top 10 of the standings and six points away from the relegation zone.

Torino also has a pretty solid away record, with three draws and one win in the last four away games. Therefore, they came to Bergamo with confidence to surprise the hosts.

Atalanta faces a crisis in the back lines ahead of this match. Sead Kolasinac had to be withdrawn against Barcelona due to a shoulder injury, while Giorgio Scalvini was also not fully fit. In addition, Odilon Kossounou is ruled out, so Isak Hien is likely to start again in the back.

In attack, Gian Piero Gasperini lost two key players, Ademola Lookman and Gianluca Scamacca, who are still recovering from injury. With the absence of these two players, Charles De Ketelaere is expected to support Mateo Retegui, who has impressed this season with a goal collection that only lost to Robert Lewandowski among Europe's top players.

Meanwhile, Torino also had a number of injury problems. Merger Vojvoda, Ivan Ilic, Perr Schuurs, and former Atalanta star Duvan Zapata had to be sidelined. Even so, Ali Dembele returns from suspension and is ready to strengthen the midfield of the grenade.

Che Adams, who scored twice against Cagliari, will be Torino's key player. The Scottish forward has scored seven goals in Serie A this season and has ambitions to match Denis Law's record as a Scottish player with the top scorer in Serie A.

Atalanta has a strong record of turning things around, as evidenced by their last three matches in Serie A which they managed to win after falling behind. Mateo Retegui is a major threat to Torino, with his highly consistent scoring ability this season.

However, Torino also cannot be underestimated. The victory over Atalanta in the previous match provided additional motivation for the grenade team to achieve positive results. Moreover, their stable away performance became an important asset in facing this match.

Atalanta will be a favorite to win this game, especially with the advantages of the quality of the squad they have. However, the absence of several key players and Torino's positive performance made this match potentially run tight.

Atalanta BC (3-4-2-1): Marco Carnesecchi, Rafael Toloi, Isak Hien, Heavy Djimsiti, Total Bellanova, Ederson, Marten de Roon, Matteo Rugeri, Charles De Ketelaere, Mario Pasalic, Mateo Retegui

Torino (4-2-3-1): Vanja Milinkovic-Savic, Pedersen, Guillermo Maripan, Coco, Brian Sosa, Samuele Ricci, Gvidas Gineitis, Valentino Lazaro, Nikola Vlasic, Yann Karamoh,Che Adams

Score prediction: Atalanta 2-1 Torino