Atalanta (22-9-5) at Parma (13-7-16)
Serie A Soccer: Tuesday July 28, 2020 at 1:30 PM (Stadio Ennio Tardini)
The Line: Parma +750 / Draw +475 / Atalanta -305 -- O/U: 3.5 Click Here for the Latest Odds
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Parma play host to Atalanta in Serie A soccer action from the Stadio Ennio Tardini on Tuesday afternoon.
Parma enters this game in 11th place, tied with Bologna on 46 points after back-to-back wins to get their record to 13 wins, 7 draws and 16 losses following a 2-1 win over Brescia last time out. In the win over Brescia, the first half saw only three bookings, all of which ended up going to Brescia. In the second half, Matteo Darmian opened the scoring for Parma just before the hour mark but Brescia would tie the game at one three minutes later. Dejan Kulusevski would shove Parma back in front with less than ten minutes of regular time to go, and that’s all Parma would need as they’d hold on for the win. Andreas Cornelius leads Parma in scoring with 11 goals while Kulusevski has 9 goals and a team-high 8 assists. Gervinho also has 7 goals for Parma on the year with 4 assists as well.
Atalanta on the other hand, sit in 3rd, tied with Lazio on 75 points with a record of 22 wins, 9 draws and 5 losses following a 1-1 tie with AC Milan last time out. In the tie with Milan, Atalanta fell behind in the 14th minute and had a golden opportunity to equalize from the penalty spot in the 26th minute but Ruslan Malinovsky would be denied by Milan goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma. Atalanta wouldn’t be denied their goal though as Duvan Zapata tied the game at one for Atalanta in the 34th. Milan would hold 56% possession in the second half with the only shot on target between the two teams, as neither side would end up finding the back of the net the rest of the way, leading to a share of the points at full time. Zapata and Luis Muriel are tied for the team-high in scoring with 18 goals this season, with Zapata adding 6 assists as well while Josip Ilicic has 15 goals with 5 assists. Alejandro Gomez also has a team-high 16 assists for Atalanta this season. Pierluigi Gollini is Atalanta’s top goalkeeper, conceding 1.13 goals per 90 minutes with 8 clean sheets in 31 league appearances this season.
Realistically there’s nothing but pride to play for on both sides as Juventus locked up the title with Atalanta secured in the top-4, while Parma are locked in the mid-table. With that said, Atalanta is the far better offensive team here, and I have to think that they’ll be on the hunt to reach the century mark of 100 goals in their next two games. Parma’s notched back-to-back wins, but I think they come crashing back down to earth here. Atalanta’s won the last three head-to-head by a combined score of 11-1, so I’ll back Atalanta to win with the -1.5 handicap to get the price down and put a bit on Atalanta to win to nil at decent plus money as I could see this being a 2-0 final.
Chris’s Pick Atalanta -1.5 -105 / Atalanta to win to nil +165
AUTHOR: Chris Ruffolo
Follow Chris Ruffolo on Twitter @ruffthepickdawg