Atalanta vs Spezia

Gewiss Stadium is the venue as Atalanta and Spezia go head-to-head in their first-ever Coppa Italia showdown.

Atalanta reminded the world of their former selves with a record-breaking 8-2 home win over Salernitana at the weekend, becoming the first side to score eight times in a single Serie A match in over 27 years. Gian Piero Gasperini’s men have enjoyed an almost-perfect three-game start to the new calendar year (W2, D1), netting at least two goals each time. Chances are good ‘La Dea’ will maintain their free-scoring form here, as they’ve bagged 3+ goals in both previous competitive home encounters against Spezia (W2). But if a last-gasp 2-2 H2H earlier this month was anything to go by, Atalanta’s bid to end a poor run of five competitive home matches without a clean sheet doesn’t look promising. o

Meanwhile, Spezia’s three-match unbeaten start to 2023 (W1, D2) could inspire their hopes of posting their first-ever competitive win over Atalanta after five unsuccessful attempts (D2, L3). Luca Gotti’s men couldn’t have timed their upturn in form on hostile turf any better, going from seven consecutive Serie A away defeats by an aggregate score of 15-2 to winning on their last two travels. But it’s worth noting that barring a 2-1 triumph at Hellas Verona in November, they’ve netted under 1.5 goals in their eight remaining away fixtures this term. Moreover, before beating Torino 1-0 on their latest travel, the visitors had been without a clean sheet on ten consecutive road trips, a run that stretches back to April 2022.