Sassuolo vs Atalanta Prediction: Expect an exchange of goals

Atalanta finished last season in fifth place, failing to qualify for the Champions League. Will the Bergamaschi begin the new championship brightly, in order to book their position in the top-4 by the end of the season?

Neroverdi will start the third consecutive season under the leadership of Alessio Dionisi. So far, the young coach has not come close to the indicators at the head of Sassuolo Roberto De Dzerby - 13th place in the last championship and 11th a year earlier.

In the off-season, Sassuolo significantly renewed the center of the field, sending away Davide Frattesi, Hamed Traore, and Abdou Harroui but signing Christian Volpato, Nedim Bajrami, Luca Lipani, and Daniele Boloka. In addition, several defenders left Sassuolo - Kaan Ayhan, Mert Müldür, and Rogerio. In their place, Roma signed Filippo Missori and Matthias Vigna.

Sassuolo won the first official match of the new season. After extra time in the Italian Cup, the team beat Cosenza 5:2 (2:2). Another Sassuolo rookie Samuele Mulattieri from Inter, scored a double in overtime.

The Bergamaschi are used to playing in the Champions League, having finished third in Serie A for several years in a row. But then came the failure in the championship before last, when Atalanta ended up eighth. They failed to improve the situation in the last championship, finishing only sixth.

In the off-season, the club from Bergamo made good money, giving Rasmus Hoylund to Manchester United for 70 million, Jérémie Boga to Nice for 18, and Joakim Mæhle to Wolfsburg for 12. Atalanta signed forwards El Bilal Toure from Almeria, Gianluca Scamacca from West Ham, and Milan attacking midfielder Charles De Ketelare. On the left flank of the defense, Bayer's Mitchell Becker and Seyad Koloshinac, who played for Marseille, replaced Mæhle. Let's also remind you about Alexei Miranchuk. The Russian player will start the new season at Atalanta.

Of the seven friendly matches before the start of the season, Atlanta won five and lost only one. They drew 0:0 with Juventus, lost 1:4 to Union Berlin, and won 3:1 over Bournemouth.

Anything can happen in the first round, but the trends are too obvious in the upcoming game. We will most likely see a productive match where both teams will score. The only time in the confrontation between Sassuolo and Atalanta in the last few years when things were not like that was last season - the Neroverdi beat the Bergamaschi 1:0 at home. But there much was decided by a suspension at Atalanta already in the middle of the first half. Unless something extraordinary happens again, the teams will make up for the results.