The Coppa Italia round-of-16 fixture will see the struggling Fiorentina play host and surprise the red-hot Atalanta.
Fiorentina have been in all sorts of trouble recently, losing more than winning. Ahead of their 1-0 Serie A weekend win against Spal, Fiorentina have lost four of their last seven competitive matches winning just one. Incidentally, that win has come in the Coppa Italia competition where they have blanked Cittadella 2-0 in the previous round. Both their Cup matches this season were won by a two-goal margin by Fiorentina, making it four wins and just one loss in their last six Coppa Italia fixtures. It gets even better at home, with Fiorentina remaining unbeaten in six Coppa Italia home games – winning five and drawing one. However, their home form this season has been all over the place. Ahead of their 1-0 win against Spal, Fiorentina have lost three and drew two of their last six competitive home fixtures of the season.
Atalanta will be a tough proposition, considering the visiting team’s knack to keep scoring goals and making a mockery of defences. That included a 1-1 draw at Inter Milan over the weekend that could easily have been a win had it not been for Samir Handanovic’s heroics. Impressively, Atalanta are unbeaten in seven of their last eight competitive games coming into this match. That included winning six matches, and five of those have come with a clean sheet. More impressively, they have scored at least two goals in each of their wins. Even their Coppa Italia form coming into this match reads three wins and one loss in their last five matches. However, they haven’t really performed to their best away from home in Coppa Italia.
Atalanta have lost six of their last nine away Coppa Italia matches, winning just two. That said, they are unbeaten in two such games, drawing the last one 3-3 at Fiorentina. The hosts have snapped their losing streak with a win over Spal during the weekend. That puts the focus back on Fiorentina and their chances of progression in Coppa Italia. However, it is tough to see them progress beyond this round. Expect Atalanta to continue their scoring ways.