Sampdoria – Atalanta

The teams will delight their fans with some productive football

Atalanta's disappointing performance at the end of last season risks turning into a disappointing start to the new season. Gian Piero Gasperini has spoken in a rather harsh manner about the club's transfer strategy. He is extremely unhappy with the job done by the club and says he cannot understand the objectives being set for him. And true: of the players only Lucman from Leipzig and Ederson from Salernitana. And it's not that there are many losses (Pessina's departure can probably be considered the main one), but stagnation is unlikely to lead to anything special either. Gasperini has also indicated a willingness to part with Ilicek and Lammers. The end of last season's draw showed that the team were simply exhausted. However, the final eighth place and, as a consequence, the absence of the European Cup season can help the Bergamasks now. For more than one league season, it was the abundance of tournaments that hampered the Goddess. But, again, it's far from certain that the team will be able to regain their former form. Defeats against Valencia and Newcastle (albeit in friendly fixtures) indicate that the team is not ready for the season. The team's final prospects are highly questionable, and Gian Piero himself may not make it to the end of the season. Sampdoria have managed to keep their place in the league and Marco Giampaolo his job. But now there will be a completely different demand on the mentor: he got the opportunity to build a team for himself and not take it over in the middle of the season. Many players were sold, and the majority of those who left the team were either old, or players who didn't play well. So, gone were Yoshida and Ekdal, the much missed Dasmgore, Bonazzoli and Caprari and, sadly, Torsby. The new players who came in were: Djuricic, Villar and those who were bought out on loan. Overall, the Genoa side have managed to retain their backbone, but it is unlikely that they will be able to significantly strengthen their position in the league. The club managed to start the season with a very shaky cup win over Regina. Last season Sampdoria lost to Bergamasks under either D'Aversa or Giampaolo. And in both cases four goals were scored in the matches. The Genoese have generally found it difficult to play against the Goddesses, with just one win in the past five meetings. Even despite the impending stagnation of Atalanta, the Bergamasks remain a very serious fighting unit. Some of the home side's defensive problems will have an impact against such an attacking opponent. But Dampaolo's men are also expected to take advantage of Atalanta's poor run of form. The match might well end in typical Bergamasks style - with a total of more than 2.5 goals.