This weekend also sees the final round of matches in the Italian top flight and features this upcoming clash between Atalanta and Empoli at the Gewiss Stadium with the hosts desperate to return to winning ways in their final home match of the Serie A season, in order to claim a top seven finish.
Atalanta were handed a 2-0 defeat away from home at league leaders, AC Milan, last time out in Serie A but although the hosts return to the more familiar surroundings of their Gewiss Stadium, Atalanta have managed to pick up just two wins out of their last eight games overall.
Wins against Venezia and Spezia, both by 3-1 margins, were actually recorded away from home while they also suffered four defeats within this eight-game sequence as well, losing to Napoli, Sassuolo, Verona and AC Milan.
Form on home soil hasn’t exactly been convincing either as Atalanta have registered just one victory out of their last 10 matches, keeping just three clean sheets in the process.
So the pressure really is on Atalanta to pull a win out of the bag this weekend.
Onto Empoli and the visitors have already assured their Serie A status for another term as they currently occupy 14th place and hold a comfortable nine-point cushion over third from bottom Cagliari heading into this final weekend of the Serie A campaign.
However, prospects of an away win here at the Gewiss Stadium on Saturday evening look distinctly remote as Empoli have actually managed to win just once in their previous 20 matches overall, but they have been involved in no fewer than nine draws within this period.
Having also recorded just one win out of their last 13 outings on the road (a 1-0 victory at Napoli no less), Empoli’s mindset may well be that of damage limitation for this upcoming trip to Atalanta.
And with six draws within this 13-match period on their travels, the visitors stand a fair chance of grinding out a possible point at the Gewiss Stadium and frustrating their hosts.
In addition, Atalanta have won just four out of the last 11 encounters against Empoli.
So the hosts certainly haven’t had things all their own way in previous exchanges and Atalanta could be facing another tough assignment here as well, with Empoli holding on for a point.