Atalanta vs Monza Prediction: Izzo to incur ban in Bergamo

Fresh from a 6-1 hammering of Hellas Verona on Saturday that extended their unbeaten run to six games in all competitions, Atalanta's next Serie A assignment sees them take on Monza at the Gewiss Stadium on Wednesday (19:45).

Below you can read my Atalanta vs Monza prediction, complete with all the latest team news and match odds, ahead of this meeting in Bergamo.

Team News

Marco Brescianini, Gianluca Scamacca, Giorgio Scalvini and Odilon Kossounou all missed the weekend win over Verona, and the first three of that quartet are set to sit out Atalanta's midweek meeting with Monza, though Kossounou has a chance of returning to the squad.

La Dea head coach Gian Piero Gasperini dropped Raoul Bellanova and Mario Pasalic down to the bench following last Wednesday's goalless draw with Celtic in the Uefa Champions League, but both players could be restored to the starting XI for the visit of I Biancorossi.

Strike duo Ademola Lookman and Mateo Retegui starred on Saturday with both bagging a brace in Bergamo; it will be interesting to see whether Gasperini deploys one or both from the bench on Wednesday with Sunday's trip to league leaders Napoli in mind.

Football Odds

Monza will be without the suspended Warren Bondo who received his marching orders for two bookable offences in Sunday's 2-2 draw with Venezia. Alessandro Bianco or Omari Forson could replace the Frenchman and join former Atalanta ace Matteo Pessina in the middle of midfield.

Meanwhile, Bergamo-born Robert Gagliardini, who came through the youth ranks at La Dea and played 16 times for the first team before leaving for Inter Milan in 2017, could make the matchday squad after injury kept the 30-year-old out of the weekend stalemate with Venezia.

Daniel Maldini may be restored to the starting XI after appearing as a second-half substitute on Sunday following a one-game injury absence, but Stefano Sensi, Alessio Cragno and Patrick Ciurria remain sidelined.

Atalanta vs Monza Odds

*Please click on the link above to be taken to the main Atalanta vs Monza page on betfred.com (or app) for all the live betting prices on this match.

Atalanta are 3/10 to record a fourth consecutive Serie A victory, giving the hosts an implied win probability of 76.9% on Wednesday, while Monza are 9/1, or a 10% chance, to make it back-to-back away wins after beating Verona 3-0 in their last travel match.

The draw can be backed at 9/2, both teams to score at 10/11, and over 2.5 total goals at 8/15.

Retegui (19/20) and Lookman (11/10) are most fancied in the anytime goalscorer market, and you can get 100/30 and 4/1, respectively, for them to fire first in Bergamo. Milan Djuric, who scored Monza's second equaliser on Sunday, is shortest-priced in the anytime goalscorer market for the visitors at 4/1.

Both Teams To Score - Yes @ 10/11

This is a no-brainer for me at just under EVS. Atalanta are Serie A's top-scoring team heading into the midweek round of fixtures, plundering 24 goals across their first nine league matches. They've scored in every game except one, arguably their toughest fixture of the campaign away to reigning champions Inter Milan on August 30, when they were easily beaten 4-0 at San Siro.

Since then, La Dea haven't had any difficulties in finding the net in the Italian top flight, although they have been far from watertight at the back, keeping just two clean sheets in the league all season, and only one since their opening-weekend 4-0 win at Lecce on August 19.

Only Torino (also 14) have conceded as many times as La Dea in the top 12 of Serie A after the first nine rounds, while just six teams in the whole division have shipped more goals.

Step forward Monza, who aren't exactly prolific scorers this term, netting just 10 times heading into Wednesday's contest.

However, since blanking in their first two games, a goalless draw at Empoli on August 17 and a 1-0 home defeat to Genoa a week later, Alessandro Nesta's side have only failed to score in one of their last seven in the league - a 2-0 defeat at early pacesetters Napoli on September 29.

Monza have struck in their last three matches since, drawing at home with AS Roma (1-1) and Venezia (2-2) either side of a 3-0 victory away to Verona, and they will back themselves to cause problems for their hosts on Wednesday.

I Biancorossi scored in their last head-to-head with Atalanta, a 2-1 home defeat on April 21, and they could benefit from La Dea making alterations to their starting XI ahead of a crunch clash with Napoli on the weekend.

Both teams to score has landed in 67 per cent (six) of Atalanta's league matches this term, and 56 per cent (five) of Monza's.

Player to Receive a Card - Armando Izzo (MON) @ 100/30

Monza defender Armando Izzo is walking a disciplinary tightrope as his next yellow card in Serie A, which would bring about his fifth of the competition in 2024/25, will see him incur a one-game suspension for an accumulation of bookings.

The 32-year-old picked up four cautions in Monza's first six games, with a referee brandishing a yellow in his direction in matches against Genoa, Fiorentina, Bologna and Napoli, while he was also booked in his side's 1-0 win over Suditrol in the Coppa Italia on August 9.

It's little surprise to see the number of cards shown to the Italian when glancing at his foul statistics.

Izzo is averaging 2.2 fouls per game in Serie A, a significant increase from 1.4 last season when he was shown nine yellows in the competition. He's kept things clean in his last three games, managing to avoid being written into the referee's notebook, but he still made two fouls last time out against Venezia and is likely to have his hands full down the right-hand side of Monza's defence on Wednesday.

Atalanta forward Lookman tends to do his work from the left-hand side of La Dea's attack and his pace and trickery could prove too much for a man five years his senior. The Nigeria international was fouled 1.1 times per game on average in 2023/24 and is at 0.7 this term, while strike partner Retegui is being fouled an average of once per game.

Charles De Ketelaere (1.8p/g) has an even higher average.

Izzo was booked home and away against Atalanta last season, receiving a yellow in the 66th minute of the last meeting between these two teams in April for a foul on Lookman, while his last visit to Bergamo saw him make two fouls.

He was also cautioned in Atalanta's 5-2 win in Bergamo in June 2023, where he committed three fouls before being taken off in the 69th minute.

Will he make it four bookings in a row against La Dea in midweek?

Offers

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