Previous encounters
Title-chasing Atalanta and Napoli are set to lock horns in Serie A Week 21 this Saturday with Antonio Conte's side arriving at Gewiss Stadium on the back of a five-match winning streak.
Atalanta meanwhile have drawn their last three having previously won 11 games in a row. They haven't lost in the league since a 3-2 home defeat to Como on 24 September and have now gone 15 matches unbeaten (W11, D4) – their second-longest run in Serie A after going 17 without defeat between January and July 2020.
Napoli have lost the last two meetings with Atalanta 3-0, including the reverse fixture at the Stadio Maradona earlier this season.
However, the Azzurri can boast an impressive recent record in Bergamo, where they have won on the last three occasions and six of the last nine (L3) since the 2015/16 campaign. In the last ten seasons, Napoli have picked up more away wins only against Torino (eight) and Sampdoria (seven).
Recent match-ups in Bergamo suggest it should be a high-scoring encounter: the last four Atalanta v Napoli fixtures have produced at least three goals each time (seven total for Atalanta, nine for Napoli), averaging four per game.
Atalanta's aerial supremacy, plenty of early and late goals
Gian Piero Gasperini's Atalanta have proven to be a well-oiled goal-scoring machine this season racking up 44 goals so far – four fewer than Inter – despite shuffling their striker pack last summer. They have recorded a league-high 112 shots on target and ten of their players have scored at least twice in Serie A (the joint highest with Inter).
Their main threat stems from the flanks and high balls, with ten of their goals coming from crosses (another league high shared with Inter) and ten from headers (more than anyone else), which is their most headed goals in a single Serie A campaign since they notched 14 in 2019/20.
Perhaps even more impressive is Atalanta's aerial prowess down the other end: they are the only team yet to concede from a cross and one of just three (together with Udinese and Napoli) who have not conceded any headed goals this term.
Napoli can expect a physical encounter and should be prepared to withstand Atalanta pressure from the off, as Gasperini's men have already scored seven goals in the opening quarter of an hour of games this season – again, the highest figure among Serie A sides.
Further evidence of Atalanta's physical qualities is the ten goals they have plundered in the final 15 minutes (second only to Lazio's 13), largely thanks to their options from the bench: nine of their goals have come from substitutes (again bettered only by Lazio, with ten).
De Ketelaere and Lookman danger men, Retegui a goal machine
When Atalanta beat Napoli 3-0 at the Maradona in November, the stars of the show were Ademola Lookman and Charles De Ketelaere as the Nigerian bagged a first-half brace set up by the Belgian. The pair have struck up a superb understanding in recent months, enabling Gasperini's team to operate efficiently without a traditional centre forward – their movement proving unpredictable for opponents.
Indeed, Lookman and De Ketelaere are two of just three players (together with Romelu Lukaku) who have recorded at least five goals and five assists in Serie A in the current campaign.
The former Leicester forward has been involved in the third-most shots this season (85, after Nico Paz's 94 and Nikola Krstovic's 90) and created the second-most chances for team-mates (35, behind Aron Martin's 37).
The Belgium star tends to turn it on more in front of his own fans: since the start of last season, he is the only player already in double figures for both goals (11) and assists (11) at home.
If that weren't enough, the league's top scorer Mateo Retegui is hitting the target again after injury – his goal against Juventus was his 13th of the season.
The Argentine-born Italy striker, who netted the third after coming off the bench in the reverse fixture, has scored the joint-most headed goals in 2024/25 (five, the same as Lorenzo Lucca).
Since Retegui made his Serie A debut, no Italian has scored more goals than him (20 in 47 appearances), and he has also provided five assists in that time.
Stats by Opta
