Salernitana will be looking to pick up a fourth victory on the trot for the first time this season and move level on points with Cagliari just outside the relegation zone when they take on Atalanta BC on Monday.

The hosts, who could move into the Europa League qualification spot with all three points, head into the game without a win in any of their last five home matches and will be desperate to end this dry spell.

Match preview

Atalanta turned in a performance of the highest quality last weekend when they fought back from behind twice to salvage a thrilling 4-4 draw with Torino.

Colombian forward Luis Muriel put on a clinic in front of the home crowd, scoring twice and assisting the other two of La Dea's four goals to force a share of the spoils.

This followed a 3-1 victory over last-placed Venezia at the Stadio Pier Luigi Penzo on April 23 which saw Gian Piero Gasperini's men end their run of five games without a win across all competitions.

Atalanta have won 15, drawn 10 and lost nine of their 34 games this season to collect 55 points and sit eighth in the Serie A standings, three points adrift of Roma in the Europa League qualification spot.

On the back of a third-placed finish in the 2020-2021 campaign, Atalanta's underperformance this season has been owing to their struggles on home turf, where they have managed just four wins from 17 games and have picked up 19 points from a possible 51.

Salernitana, on the other hand, took another huge step in their race against the drop as they claimed a hard-fought 2-1 victory over Fiorentina when the sides locked horns last Sunday.

Despite seeing over 72 percent of the ball possession and being in the ascendency for most of the game, La Viola were left empty-handed at the Arechi Stadium as Milan Duric and Federico Bonazzoli scored either side of Riccardo Saponara's 64th-minute equaliser to hand the hosts all three points.

Prior to that, Salernitana ended their 11-game winless run when they saw off Sampdoria 2-1 at the Luigi Ferraris Stadium on April 16 before travelling to Udinese to pick up a 1-0 victory four days later.

Davide Nicola will be delighted with his side's upturn in form as the Garnets, who are currently 19th in the table with 25 points from 33 games, could move level on points with 17th-placed Cagliari just outside the drop zone with a win on Monday.

Team News

Gasperini remains unable to call upon the services of Giuseppe Pezzella, who is set to sit out his third consecutive game having suffered a muscle injury in the game against Hellas Verona two Mondays ago.

He is joined on the Atalanta injury table by Joakim Maehle after the Danish international picked up an abdominal injury in the game against Napoli on April 3.

In their absence, Hans Hateboer and Davide Zappacosta should take up the wing-back roles once again with Rafael Toloi, Merih Demiral and Jose Luis Palomino in the three-man backline.

Muriel, who was involved in all four goals against Torino last week, should handle business further up the pitch, alongside 24-year-old Teun Koopmeiners and Colombian forward Duvan Zapata.

Meanwhile, Salernitana's injury list is more hefty by comparison, with the likes of Joel Obi (thigh), Mamadou Coulibaly (muscle) and Lys Mousset (leg) all set to sit out the game.

While goalkeeper Vincenzo Fiorillo is yet to feature this year following an injury in December's game against Inter Milan, the Garnets lost Serbian midfielder Ivan Radovanovic to injury in the clash with Udinese on April 20.

After coming off the bench to grab the winner against Fiorentina last time out, Bonazzoli now has eight goals to his name this season and the Sampdoria loanee could be rewarded with a starting role on Monday.

Atalanta BC possible starting lineup:
Musso; Toloi, Demiral, Palomino; Hateboer, De Roon, Freuler, Zappacosta; Koopmeiners, Muriel, Zapata

Salernitana possible starting lineup:
Sepe; Gyomber, Fazio, Ranieri; Mazzocchi, Jose, Bohinen, Coulibaly, Ruggeri; Djuric, Bonazzoli

We say: Atalanta BC 2-0 Salernitana

Salernitana have hit their stride at the tail end of the season and will be backing themselves to stun a floundering Atalanta side who have managed just one win across all competitions in the month of April. However, given the gulf in class and quality between the two squads, we are tipping Gasperini's side to edge out the visitors and come away with all three points.

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