Palermo will be hoping to extend their seven match unbeaten run when they travel to the Stadio Atleti Azzurri d’Italia to take on Atalanta in Serie A on Sunday.
Giuseppe Iachini’s men last tasted defeat back in October when they suffered a 2-0 loss at the hands of reigning champions Juventus, but since then have put together a string of impressive results including a 2-0 victory away to AC Milan.
The Rosanero have been enjoying life back in Italy’s top tier, having been promoted from Serie B last season, and currently sit in a comfortable 10th position in the standings.
The 19 goals they have scored have gone some way to propelling them to that position and seven of those have been contributed by star man Paulo Dybala.
Stefano Colantuono’s men by contrast have had a harder time finding the net and their eight goals in 14 games is the worst record in Serie A. As a result they find themselves in the midst of a potential relegation battle and sit just two points above the drop zone.
The Nerazzurri come off the back of heavy 3-0 defeat away to Lazio last week and will need to raise their spirits if they are to trouble their in-form visitors.
Palermo have the slight edge historically with six wins to Atalanta’s five, while the sides have shared five draws. The last meeting goes back to February 2013 and resulted in a 2-1 victory for Atalanta, with German Denis scoring the decisive goal.
Colantuono will have to make do without the injured Valerio Rosseti, Marcelo Estigarribia and Cristian Raimondi, while Iachini is expected to be missing Edgar Barreto and Fabio Daprela.
Neither side have any players missing through suspension.
Expected Starting XIs
Atalanta: Sportiello; Drame, Cherubin, Benalouane, Zappacosta; Gomez, Carmona, Cigarini, D’Alessandro; Moralez, Denis
Palermo: Sorrentino; Andelkovic, Gonzalez, Munoz, Lazaar, Chochev, Maresca, Rigoni, Morganella; Vazquez, Dybala
