Bergamo Kings: Why underdogs Atalanta are achieving big things

La Dea are currently on a seven-game unbeaten run in all competitions, winning five of those. But that streak looked to be dead in the water in the recent clash with AS Roma.

3-0 down after 40 minutes, Gian Piero Gasperini’s side stuck to their game-plan and rallied back to take a precious point from I Giallorossi.

Atalanta’s second goal – headed home by Rafael Toloi – came from a fine team move, which underlined their squad-over-stars focus. As for Roma, this was the first time they’d surrendered a three-goal lead since February 2011.

Three at the back is good for Gasperini

After his San Siro shellacking and two miserable stints at Palermo (with a total of three wins in 23 games), Gasperini has gradually rebuilt his reputation.

As Genoa boss, he led the side to a sixth-placed finish in 2014-15 – still their best Serie A finish of this decade. And the secret to his success that term was largely down to his adoption of three at the back, switching between 3-4-3 and 3-4-2-1.

It’s something he’s carried over as Atalanta boss. They’ve got a well-balanced defensive trio, with the powerful pair of Gianluca Mancini and Berat Djimsiti joined by the classy, ball-playing Toloi (who’s also a real set-piece threat).

Further forward, the width Atalanta play with in attacking areas is ideal for Zapata, who has a strong claim to being the league’s most effective target man.

Match Odds

Next up is the visit of a SPAL side who’ve lost eight of their last 11 away games, and currently sit 14th in Serie A.

We have Atalanta as 2/7 favourites for victory in this clash, while you can get a chunkier 15/8 on the hosts to Win Both Halves.

Gasperini’s side beat Juventus 3-0 in the Coppa Italia last week, and a repeat of that scoreline against SPAL is up for grabs at 7/1.

Click here for the latest Serie A odds.

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All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing