Both sides go not the game after hard-fought victories in the opening round of fixtures. Atalanta came for 2–0 down away at SPAL to win 3–2 thanks to two great goals from substitute Luis Muriel.
Torino, on the other hand, defeated Sassuolo 2– 1 with goals from Simone Zaza and Andrea Belotti. After being knocked out of the Europa League in midweek to Wolverhampton Wanderers, before it even began proper, they will be keen to bounce back this weekend.
The Turin side got the better of the two ties last season, with the first ending 0–0 but the Granata managed a 2-0 win in the reverse fixture.
Team News
The only absentee for Atalanta is Timothy Castagne, the right-back has a muscle injury and is expected to be about until mid-September.
Goalscorer last week Zaza picked up a knock midweek against Wolves and is expected to miss out. Fullback Cristian Ansaldi and centre back Lyanco both have muscle injuries while Iago Falque and Simone Edera are both recovering from injuries sustained in the preseason.
Expected line up
Atalanta (3-4-3) Gollini; Palomino, Djimsiti, Masiello; Hateboer, Freuler, de Roon, Gosens; Pasalic, Gomez, Zapata
Torino (3-5-2) Sirigu; Izzo, Bonifazi, Bremer; De Silvestri, Lukic, Baselli, Rincon, Aina; Millico, Belotti
Key Clash
It will likely game a game of attack vs defence as Italy’s best attack last season comes up against the 5th best defence. Only Juve, Napoli, Inter and Milan conceded less. Walter Mazzarri is renowned for drilling his teams solidly and looking to break and this weekend will be no different.
A battle to look out for could be Duvan Zapata up against Armando Izzo. The former Genoa centre back was fantastic last season but he will have his work cut out against the movement of Atalanta’s front three and in particular the strength and pace of the Colombian.
Both sides go into the game after hard-fought victories in the opening round of fixtures. Atalanta came back from 2-0 down away at SPAL to win 3–2 thanks to two goals from substitute Luis Muriel.