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Club football returns this weekend and will see Empoli host Atalanta at Carlo Castellani on Sunday in another game week of Italian Serie A.
Empoli returned to the Italian top flight this season after spending the last two seasons away. They have performed fairly well on their return although they lost 2-0 to Jose Mourinho's Roma in their last game.
Gli Azzurri sit 10th in the league with nine points from seven games, the highest of all three newly-promoted sides. They have won three games, including a 1-0 win over Juventus, and will be looking to increase their tally at the weekend.
Atalanta, who have finished third in Serie A for the last three seasons, have not begun the campaign as well as they would have wanted. They were beaten 3-2 by AC Milan on home turf in their last game.
La Dea sit eighth in the league table, just two points above their Sunday hosts. They are already 10 points behind Inter Milan at the top of the table and will be looking to make up ground with a win on Sunday.
Empoli vs Atalanta Head-to-Head
There have been 18 meetings between the two sides in the past. The record between the sides is close with Empoli winning five times, Atalanta winning six times and seven ending in draws.
The two sides last met in Serie A back in 2019, a game which ended goalless.
Empoli Form Guide: L-W-W-L-L
Atalanta Form Guide: L-W-D-W-W
Empoli vs Atalanta Team News
Empoli
Andrea Pinamonti came off injured in the first half of Empoli's last game and is expected to miss the game on Sunday. The striker is the only injured player for the hosts.
Injured: Andrea Pinamonti
Doubtful: None
Suspended: None
Atalanta
Hans Hateboer, Robin Gosens and Matteo Pessina are all out with injuries and are unavailable for selection. Berat Djimsiti underwent surgery for a fractured forearm suffered while on international duty with Albania and will be out for a month.
Injured: Hans Hateboer, Robin Gosens, Matteo Pessina, Berat Djimsiti
Doubtful: None
Suspended: None
Empoli vs Atalanta Predicted XI
Empoli Predicted XI (4-3-1-2): Guglielmo Vicario; Petar Stojanovic, Simone Romagnoli, Mattia Viti, Riccardo Marchizza; Nicolas Haas, Samuele Ricci, Filippo Bandinelli; Nedim Bajrami; Federico Di Francesco, Leonardo Mancuso
Atalanta Predicted XI (3-4-1-2): Juan Musso; Rafael Toloi, Merih Demiral, Jose Luis Palomino; Davide Zappacosta, Marten De Room, Teun Koopmeiners, Joakim Mæhle; Mario Pasalic; Ruslan Malinovskyi, Luis Muriel
Empoli vs Atalanta Prediction
Empoli have performed decently well this campaign and have won two of their last three games, scoring six goals in that period.
Atalanta will not be too pleased with how they have begun the season. They, however, have a chance to get their campaign back on track against one of the league's new faces and should be able to do so.
Prediction: Empoli 1-2 Atalanta
