Atalanta will be hopeful of securing their first points of the Serie A season as they welcome Frosinone to the Stadio Atleti Azzurri d’Italia on Sunday evening.
Edy Reja will be hoping that his Orobici side will be able to bounce back from their late defeat to Inter on the opening weekend and give their supporters something to cheer, as will fans of the Canarini who saw their side put up a fight against Torino, but like Atalanta, suffered defeat in their first game of the season against Torino.
Sunday night’s meeting will be the first competitive game between the two clubs since they last played in Serie B together during the 2010/11 Serie B season as Atalanta secured promotion to Serie A and Frosinone were relegated to the Lega Pro. A lone strike from Simone Tiribocchi was enough for La Dea to secure the three points in the last time the sides met in January 2011.
La Dea coach Reja will have several decisions to make ahead of the game as he faces several selection dilemmas. He will be without Luca Cigarini after he underwent surgery on his knee and German Denis who is absent after injuring his foot against Inter. Guido Marilungo will also miss the game through injury.
Rafael Toloi is in line to make his Atalanta debut after completing his move from Sao Paolo at the expense of Guglielmo Stendardo, while the club’s latest signing, Gabriel Paletta may have to be content with a place on the bench. Mauricio Pinilla is the prime candidate to replace Denis upfront and will look to make the most of his chance against a side heavily tipped for relegation.
Frosinone coach Roberto Stellone is highly likely to stick with the squad he named against Torino but could be tempted to make a solitary change with Adriano Russo making way for Leonardo Blanchard in the centre of defence. Stellone has no fresh injury doubts or suspensions to deal and will be hopeful of his side putting in a spirited performance as they did in their first ever Serie A game against the Granata.
Form Guide Atalanta (W-L) Frosinone (L-L)
Expected Starting XIs
Atalanta: Sportiello; Masiello, Toloi, Cherubin, Drame; De Roon, Migliaccio, Kurtic; Moralez, Pinilla, Gomez
Frosinone: Leali; Rosi, Diakite, Blanchard, Crivello; Paganini, Gori, Gucher, Soddimo; Longo, Dionisi
