Atalanta make the trip to Ferrara to take on a number of familiar faces at SPAL as they look to get the 2019/20 season off to a good start, which isn’t something they often manage.
The Bergamaschi tend to struggle on the opening day, losing more first-round fixtures than any other Serie A side with 27.
But Emilia-Romagna tends to be a happy hunting ground for La Dea and they’ve won seven of their last nine in the region, though they did fall to a defeat on their last visit to the Stadio Paolo Mazza.
Andrea Petagna was the hero on that occasion, scoring twice against his former club and his fortunes in front of goal have turned since joining the Biancazzurri. The forward netted just nine times in 63 Serie A appearances for the Nerazzurri, but bagged 16 in 36 with SPAL last term.
Petagna is just one of many ex-Atalanta players now plying their trade in Ferrara, with five others also in Leonardo Semplici’s squad – Etrit Berisha, Marco D’Alessandro, Jasmin Kurtic, Alberto Paloschi and Sergio Floccari.
SPAL: Berisha; Dos Santos, Cionek, Missiroli, Valoti, Kurtic, Vicari, Dalbelo, Di Francesco, Petagna, D’Alessandro.
Atalanta: Gollini; Djimsiti, Palomino, Masiello; Hateboer, Freuler, De Roon, Gosens; Pasalic, Papu Gomez, Zapata.
