Chievo vs Atalanta Predictions

Can Chievo finally get back onto a positive points tally when they meet Atalanta this weekend? This a clash between two of Italy’s most out of form sides, with the duo sitting inside the bottom four in terms of the form table. Can the hosts use this as an opportunity to turn around their campaign, or will la Dea pick themselves back up and get their European chase back on track? It’s going to take work for Atalanta to charge up to the top six, but this trip seems like the perfect place to start.

The hosts made moves during the international break, sacking Lorenzo D’Anna and replacing him with the infamous Gian Piero Ventura. The former Italy boss was responsible for their failure to make the World Cup last year, so it’s a surprise that he’s managed to land a job in Serie A. However, Chievo is by far the most difficult post in the top flight, given that the club were hit by sanctions for inflating players’ transfer values, and then slapped with a points deduction. Even eight games in, they’re bottom with -1 point.

Ventura starts his Chievo tenure with a home clash against Atalanta. The visitors are also struggling, with their dreadful form this term already costing them a place in the Europa League group stage. They’ve fallen down to 17th in the table, and they can’t allow that to continue. They added to their squad depth in order to have a chance of juggling two competitions this season, and they’re currently succeeding in neither.

However, Atalanta head into this clash as favourites, based on how awful Chievo have been of late. The hosts have been stuck on minus points for much of the campaign, and as a result they’re seven points from safety after eight games. The Gialloblu were hit with a three point deduction, which actually seems lenient given the fate they could have suffered. However, the bigger concern for them is that they’ve lost their last eight matches.

The Gialloblu have lost three of their four home matches this season, while they’ve lost four of their last five against Atalanta. The visitors may come here short of form, but we expect them to bounce back against a really poor Cheivo outfit. We think it’s worth backing the visitors to claim the points here, and we’re tipping a 2-1 away win.