Atalanta vs Juventus

Atalanta Bergamo and Juventus will meet at the Stadio Atleti Azzurri D’Italia in a match up of sides going in different directions in week 34 of Serie A. Atalanta are coming off of a bad loss at home as Juventus put together one of their best weeks of the season as they picked up 6 from their two matches.

The bergamaschi come into this match in 11^th place of Serie A with 41 points for the season. They sit one point back of 10^th place Palermo and 1 point ahead of SS Lazio who are 12^th. Last week Atalanta fell on the road to SS Napoli by a score of 2-0 at the Stadio San Paolo. With their loss Atalanta have now lost 2 straight and 3 of their last 5 games with just 1 win over that span. They have now been held scoreless over their past 2 games. Manager Gigi del Neri will have a couple of injury concerns with Costinha, Muslimovic and Talamonti out injured while Doni will sit out suspended. However, there is some good news as Langella and Rivalta will return from injury.

Juventus won 2 matches over the past week. They started things off with a big victory by a score of 3-2 at home in their derby match against AC Milan at the Stadio Olimpico di Torino. Next, the bianconeri followed it up with a 3-0 win at home to Parma. Thanks to their two victories the side managed by Claudio Ranieri are now in 3^rd place of the league table with 64 points on the present campaign. Their 64 points leave them 7 points back of 2^nd place AS Roma and 8 points ahead of 4^th place Fiorentina. Juve are now winners of 3 of their last 4 games. For this week’s contest away to Atalanta, Juventus will be missing Andrade, Iaquinta, Chiellini and recent acquisition Sissoko to injury. On a bright note, both Trezeguet and Del Piero will be available.

Atalanta have been dropping points left and right over the past few weeks and this of course has led to a steady drop in the league table. At one point they were in range of a possible UEFA Cup spot but now find themselves in the wrong half of the league table. Now they face a Juventus outfit who are clicking on all cylinders. Making matters worse for the homeside is the fact that they will be missing their best player in Doni.

Prediction: Juventus (1-2)