Atalanta and Napoli meet for the second leg of their Coppa Italia semi-final tie at the Gewiss Stadium on Wednesday.
Last week, the two sides played out a goalless draw in the first leg at Stadio San Paolo, meaning it’s still all to play for.
Despite recording 17 shots – four of which were on target – in the first leg, Atalanta were unable to find a way through.
On the whole, Atalanta have been pretty unpredictable this season. Indeed, they find themselves seventh in the Serie A table.
Gian Pierro Gasperini’s men have only managed to win ten of their 21 league games, recording seven draws and four defeats along the way.
Having enjoyed a ten-match unbeaten streak between December and January, Atalanta have failed to win either of the previous two outings.
After losing 3-1 to Lazio, Atalanta threw away a 3-0 lead to eventually draw 3-3 with Torino on Saturday.
Gasperini’s men are the second-highest scorers in Serie A, but it is worth noting that seven teams have a better defensive record.
Much like Atalanta, it’s fair to say that Napoli have also endured an inconsistent 2020/21 campaign up to now.
Napoli suffered a shock 2-1 defeat to Genoa on Saturday, leaving them 11 points off the top of the table.
After winning eight of their opening ten Serie A matches this term, Napoli have since won just four of their previous ten, with five defeats coming in that time.
Napoli beat Empoli (3-2) and Spezia (4-2) to reach the Coppa Italia semi-finals. However, Atalanta pose a completely different threat altogether.
Head-to-head: Napoli have already beaten Atalanta 4-1 this season, with a comfortable Serie A victory coming for the Naples outfit back in October.
Still, there was very little to separate the two sides in last week’s first leg. The second leg is expected to be equally as tight.
Team news: Atalanta have two injury concerns at the moment, with right-back Hans Hateboer and centre-back Bosko Sutalo sidelined.
Napoli forward Dries Mertens continues to recover from an ankle issue, while there are doubts over the fitness of Kalidou Koulibaly and Faouzi Ghoulam.
Given the recent record of both teams, this is expected to be a lively encounter, with both sides netting over 1.5 goals.
Forebet predicts that Atalanta and Napoli will produce a high-scoring draw on Wednesday, with extra-time likely to be needed to decide the winner.