Fiorentina vs Atalanta Prediction: Brighter days for I Viola in Coppa Italia

The 2023/24 campaign could end up being a dream one for Serie A sides Fiorentina and Atalanta, who are both in two cup competitions at the start of April. I Viola are in the quarter-finals of the Europa Conference League and La Dea are at the same stage in the Europa League, but it is in the Coppa Italia where the sides meet on Wednesday (KO, 20:00).

Ahead of this semi-final first leg at the Stadio Artemio Franchi we have taken a look at all the latest team news and match odds, before offering our Fiorentina vs Atalanta prediction.

The sides are currently separated by seven points in the Italian top-flight, with sixth-placed Atalanta still harbouring outside ambitions of a Champions League spot.

Fiorentina, meanwhile, appear destined to miss out on a European berth - via league position at least - but can take some confidence from the last time they faced Atalanta in September, when they ran out 3-2 winners in Florence.

Team News

Fiorentina will be boosted by the return of midfielder Giacomo Bonaventura, who missed Saturday's 2-1 defeat to AC Milan through suspension.

Danish goalkeeper Oliver Christensen has played both of I Viola's games in the competition so far but, despite recently returning to training after injury, he may miss out on selection here, with regular number one Pietro Terracciano expected to start instead.

Nicolas Gonzalez is among those expected to be recalled to the starting XI after the Argentina international was only used as a substitute last time out.

The visitors are likely to be without Charles De Ketelaere for back-to-back games, with the Belgian not expected back until later in the month.

Giorgio Scalvini will also miss out after being forced off with an injury in Atalanta's 3-0 win at Napoli on Saturday. Davide Zappacosta sustained a knock that forced him from the field, but the former Chelsea wing-back could still feature in Florence.

Berat Djimsiti, Matteo Rugeri, Ademola Lookman and Teun Koopmeiners all came off the bench for La Dea in Naples and could start on Wednesday.

Match Odds

There's nothing to separate these sides in the odds market, with both priced at 6/4 and given an implied probability of 40% to win the first leg. The draw, meanwhile, is available at 11/5, both teams to score is 4/6 and over 2.5 goals can be found at 5/6.

Fiorentina to win @ 6/4

I Viola haven't won any of their last three matches, all of which have been at home, but their record in general at the Stadio Artemio Franchi has been very good; only AC Milan (1-2), Inter Milan (0-1), Juventus (0-1) and Empoli (0-2) have beaten them there this season.

Atalanta, meanwhile, went four games without an away win before beating Napoli on their own patch on Saturday, though it has to be said that the calibre of their previous opponents - Juventus, Sporting CP, Inter and AC Milan - was extremely high.

The absence of Scalvini is particularly worrying for the visitors as the 20-year-old Italy international is such a crucial component of their three-man defence and rarely misses a game.

With home advantage in the first leg, I expect Fiorentina to make it count and take a lead into the second leg in Bergamo in three weeks time.

Nicolas Gonzalez to score anytime @ 21/10

The 25-year-old should be restored to the starting XI on Wednesday after only being introduced as a 69th-minute substitute against Milan, which was likely due to his exertions in the US with the Argentina national team.

Gonzalez is one of Fiorentina's most important players having scored 10 goals in all competitions this term, one more than the next highest, Lucas Beltran.

However, Gonzalez is currently on a 10-game goal drought for club and country - he last fired in a 5-1 win over Frosinone on February 11 - as he battles for a boost to his confidence levels, which must have taken a further battering with a miss against Costa Rica last week which did the rounds on the socials.

This would be the ideal time to get back in the goals and I'm backing him to do so against an Atalanta outfit which had gone six matches without a clean sheet before Saturday.

Check out the rest of our Football Betting Tips here.