Italian Serie A
2025-08-24 - Atalanta vs Pisa
A Sports Betting Pick by Cafa
Italy Serie A - Round 1
Stadio Atleti Azzurri d'Italia, Bergamo, Lombardy, Italy (21,747)
Sunday, 24 August 2025, 20:45 CET
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Atalanta Team News
It seems that the glory days are over at Atalanta, as their head coach Gian Piero Gasperini left, against all logic, for Roma. To add insult to injury, the Bergamo side is having problems with Ademola Lookman, and already lost Mateo Retegui to a random Saudi club.
This leaves Atalanta really thin in offense, and this definitely will not be the same type of football team as they were in the last two seasons or so. Lookman was the main man and the creator of flow in offense. Together with poor man's De Bruyne, Charles De Ketelaere, in midfield.
Now from a team that was a joy to watch, they're back to being just a normal football team that plays at a much slower pace. This is all but guaranteed, as Ivan Juric was appointed head coach. The man aims to strangle every football match by its neck so nothing happens at all, and when he succeeds, then he starts cautiously searching for that 1-0 goal.
Everyone, from fans to casual viewers, will be sad to see the old Atalanta go. But there's a certain chance that this experiment with a defensive coach might be just what the doctor ordered. It remains to be seen what the results will be. For now, we know for a fact this won't be an all-out offensive side.
Pisa Team News
Pisa was placed 2nd in Serie B last season, with good results both home and away, but now they seem to be facing an uphill struggle in the top flight. Reason being, they don't have any notable offensive weapons, at least when you look at the transfer values of players. Most of the value in this squad lies in defence and in defensive midfield.
To add to the assumption that Pisa will choose to be a defensive side as opposed to something like Frosinone or Venezia - or Sassuolo, for that matter - is the appointment of Alberto Gilardino as the head coach. He's the original Genoa manager who made them a hard nut to crack in 22/23 and 23/24.
Everything points to Pisa attempting to be a side that defends with confidence and doesn't break apart easily. Of course, one of the many offensive players in Pisa could turn out to be a revelation - at least one must be, right? - but on paper this doesn't look like a side that aims to win through offense.
Probable Lineups
(to be updated 24h prior to kick off)
The Betting Market
Atalanta is priced at 1.36, enhanced at Bet365 to 1.40, which is a standard Serie A price for these situations. It's not smaller because the league is so inherently unpredictable due to poor defending, so you rarely get less than 1.35.
Over 2.5 Goals is priced at 1.61, which is a bet that makes a lot of sense, as either Atalanta will win 3-0 or it will be a more troublesome win after Pisa scores, with something like 2-1. But that conclusion would be based on last season's Atalanta under Gasperini. This is Ivan Juric at the helm, so Atalanta is no longer a free-scoring team full of offensive flair.
BTTS-No is priced at 1.90 and this is where real value lies.
The Betting Verdict
If we take Atalanta as a huge favourite that they are, and add a defensive coach who aims to win 1-0 against a newly promoted side that has little to offer, well, we can expect the visiting side to not score.
The Statistics :
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The Pick :
Atalanta 1-0 Pisa
