Both winners at the weekend, an Atalanta BC side who finally halted their faltering form meet mid-table Torino on Wednesday at the Gewiss Stadium.

In a fixture postponed from January, when a COVID-19 outbreak prevented the visitors from travelling to Bergamo, the home side will be seeking to stay in contention for European football next term, while Il Toro's aim is a top-half finish.

Match preview

After four defeats in five games continued Atalanta's descent towards mid-table, scrutiny on Gian Piero Gasperini's side was intense when they visited Venice on Saturday.

Amid a worrying winless streak of six matches at home and abroad, the Bergamaschi were relieved to take the lead just before the break against lowly Venezia, and Mario Pasalic's opening strike was followed by another from Duvan Zapata shortly after half time.

Ultimately returning to Lombardy with three precious points following a 3-1 win, Atalanta remain in the hunt for a return to Europe next season but have much work to do following their recent slump into mediocrity.

Most of their growing tally of losses have come at home, and after the Nerazzurri were beaten 2-1 by Verona last time out at the Gewiss Stadium, they hold a damning record of just four league wins in Bergamo this term.

That represents only the 13th-best performance on home soil throughout Serie A, and stands in sharp contrast to Torino's total of 29 points as hosts - some 11 more than La Dea.

They did, though, triumph 2-1 in Turin when the clubs last clashed back in August, with Roberto Piccoli's stoppage-time strike continuing a dominant run in their match-up with the Granata - they have lost only two of the teams' 11 meetings since Gasperini took the reins in 2016.

Having struggled throughout much of February and March, recent results have put Torino back on track for a shot at the top 10 and celebrating a successful first campaign under Ivan Juric with a top-half finish.

After they shut out Scudetto-chasing Milan a fortnight ago, the Granata posted another draw against Lazio a week later - the latter of which saw them denied victory only by the concession of a late equaliser - and then took care of business against Spezia on Saturday: winning 2-1 thanks to Sasa Lukic's brace.

As a result, Il Toro are four games unbeaten before they take on Atalanta, and having also held both Inter and arch-rivals Juventus to draws in recent weeks, they are certainly not intimidated by reputation.

Nonetheless, Juric has struggled to turn singles into trebles since the turn of the year, and Torino have won only twice in their last 12 Serie A matches.

The Croatian coach will hope, then, that having now scored twice in one game for the first time since January, his side can continue their pursuit of 10th-placed Sassuolo with a victory on Wednesday.

Team News

Gian Piero Gasperini is still set to be without captain Rafael Toloi in Atalanta's back three due to injury, so teenager Giorgio Scalvini should continue to feature on Wednesday.

Owing to a knee injury sustained against Verona, Ruslan Malinovskyi is also set to sit out Torino's visit, but wing-backs Giuseppe Pezzella and Joakim Maehle are both closing in on comebacks.

Up front, Colombian forwards Duvan Zapata and Luis Muriel may be paired again, after both found the target last time out, with Jeremie Boga remaining on the bench.

While Torino's star striker Andrea Belotti missed out at the weekend after suffering a muscular injury against Lazio, the Italy international aims to return for the visitors. Should he fail to be passed fit, Antonio Sanabria and Pietro Pellegri would then battle it out to deputise up front.

Armando Izzo and Tommaso Pobega will also have to be assessed before the game, having been sidelined on Saturday, while Mohamed Fares is out for the rest of the season and veteran striker Simone Zaza remains unavailable until next month.

After his surprise inclusion against Spezia, young winger Demba Seck may drop out of the side, with Dennis Praet and Josip Brekalo the main contenders to replace him.

Atalanta BC possible starting lineup:
Musso; Scalvini, Demiral, Palomino; Hateboer, De Roon, Freuler, Zappacosta; Pasalic; Muriel, Zapata

Torino possible starting lineup:
Berisha; Zima, Bremer, Rodriguez; Singo, Mandragora, Ricci, Vojvoda; Lukic, Brekalo; Pellegri

We say: Atalanta BC 1-1 Torino

Atalanta have already suffered nine defeats in the league this season, and the last time they recorded more was four years ago, when they ultimately finished seventh.

They tend to struggle in front of their own fans, too, so though Torino will not add to that tally, the points may be shared between two old friends, Juric and Gasperini.

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