Our prediction for this Serie A match:
Gewiss Stadium will host a highly-anticipated Serie A game between Atalanta and Lazio. The Orobici came from behind to beat Sampdoria 3-1 in a midweek clash, with the team moving closer to the Champions League berth. Atalanta aim to give fans yet another reason for celebration, and they are likely to stick to their attacking style of play. Slovenia international Josip Ilicic is widely expected to return to the starting XI after finding the net in the midweek triumph, whereas all Pessina, Djimsiti, Gosens, Hateboer, Demiral, and Toloi should miss out with injuries.
The Biancocelesti, on the other hand, recorded a hard-fought 1-0 win over Fiorentina in their last league match. Lazio, though, are not regarded as good travelers, which is probably the main reason why home win should be considered. Both Adekanye and Zaccagni are sidelined with injuries for the visiting team.
Highlighted Player (Duvan Zapata):
Duvan Zapata was born in Cali, Colombia on 1 April, 1991. The 186-cm-tall attacker started his youth career at America de Cali, playing for the club between 2004 and 2008. In 2008 he made his debut for the first team and three years later he scored his first hat-trick for the Colombian outfit, in a 3-2 win over Deportivo Pereira.
In 2011 he signed a loan deal with Estudiantes and he found the net for the Argentine team on his debut against Belgrano. After scoring 11 goals in 37 appearances for Estudiantes, the Colombian striker joined Napoli in 2013, but he failed to establish himself as a first-choice attacker.
On 22 July, 2015 Zapata joined fellow Serie A team Udinese on loan and it has to be noted that he scored eight goals in 24 league appearances for the Zebrette. Duvan Zapata has 5 caps for Colombia U20 team, but he has yet to make his debut for the senior side.
Highlighted Team (Lazio):
Lazio Roma are an Italian football club based in Rome. Lazio were founded in 1900 and they compete in the Serie A. The Biancocelesti (The White and Sky Blues) have won two Serie A trophies (1973/1974, 1999/2000), while lifting six Coppa Italia titles.
The capital club play their home games at Stadio Olimpico and Roma are regarded as Lazio’s main rivals.
The two teams face each other in the Derby della Capitale and it is considered the fiercest inter-city derby in Italy. Lazio won UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup in 1999, with the team beating Mallorca in the title game. The same year they managed to clinch the UEFA Super Cup trophy as they outplayed English giants Manchester United at Stade Louis II, Monaco.
The likes of Pavel Nedved, Giuseppe Favalli, Juan Sebastian Veron, Sinisa Mihajlovic, Roberto Mancini, Giuseppe Signori, Miroslav Klose and Simone Inzaghi are notable footballers who played for Lazio in the past.