Two sides in dire form will do battle on Saturday afternoon when Atalanta visit Frosinone at the Stadio Matusa.
The Gialloazzurri currently find themselves in 19th place while the Nerazzurri occupy the 12th spot. The two sides are separated by 10 points after 20 matches.
Both sides are in the midst of a form crisis as Frosinone have accumulated a single point to their name over their past six matches while Atalanta have the same total in five.
The Canarini are on the heels of a 4-2 loss at the hands of Torino, the sixth occasion on which the minnows surrendered at least four goals since the end of October. Conceding nine goals over their past two matches, coach Roberto Stellone has undoubtedly been attempting to hammer home a sense of defensive discipline into his men in the hopes that they can begin to make up the six points that currently separate them from safety.
Atalanta ended a run of four consecutive defeats with an impressive 1-1 draw against Inter, in which new signing Alessandro Diamanti made his debut as a second-half substitute. After a positive first two months to the campaign, la Dea have struggled immensely and although they have managed to remain in the middle of the table, a mere four points separate them from Palermo in 17th place, who are forced to stare down anxiously at the relegation zone beneath them.
Atalanta have collected a total of 49 yellow cards and 10 red cards, the most of both in Serie A. Given the fact that Frosinone have drawn six red cards from their opposition, Atalanta coach Edy Reja must have his men on their best behaviour if they want to finish the match with 11 men.
The opponents met in round two of the campaign when Atalanta emerged 2-0 victors courtesy of goals from Guglielmo Stendardo and Alejandro Gomez. The scoreline would have been more lopsided if not for an early missed penalty from Mauricio Pinilla.
Prior to August’s match, the two sides faced off twice during the 2010-2011 Serie B season, with a 0-0 draw followed by a 1-0 Atalanta victory.
The Ciociari do not face any disciplinary action this week.
The Orobici on the other hand must try to make do without the services of key midfielder Luca Cigarini who has been suspended for one match due to an accumulation of yellow cards.
Both sides are missing four players to injury. Frosinone will be without Massimiliano Carlini, Modibo Diakite, Mirko Gori and Yussif Chibsah. Atalanta meanwhile cannot count on Carlos Carmona, Gabriel Paletta, Alberto Grassi and Pinilla.
Frederico Dionisi is currently Frosinone’s leading goalscorer with six goals, one more than Atalanta’s Gomez.
Form Guide: Frosinone (L-L-D-L-L) Atalanta (L-L-L-L-D)
Expected Starting XIs:
Frosinone: Leali; Rosi, Bertoncini, Ajeti, Pavlovic; Sammarco, Gucher, Frara; Kragl, Dionisi, Tonev
Atalanta: Sportiello; Masiello, Toloi, Cherubin; Conti, Migliaccio, De Roon, Kurtic, Drame; Gomez, Monachello
