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    Serie A preview and tips: Resilient Roma set to cement top four claims at Atalanta

    Sergiu BaltutaSergiu Baltuta24 April 2023
    Paulo Dybala of Roma celebrates after scoring

    Paulo Dybala of Roma celebrates after scoring

    Atalanta and AS Roma will face off in Bergamo on Monday night in a game that has major top-four implications in Serie A. Tipstrr football pundit Sergiu Baltuta assesses their prospects.

    Atalanta's inconsistency since the end of January has put a severe dent in their hopes of Champions League football next season, with just three wins from their last 11 games in all competitions (drawn two, lost six).

    Those hopes were dealt an additional blow last week when the 15-point penalty imposed on Juventus was rescinded, allowing the Old Lady of Turin to jump back into the top three, and pushing Atalanta down to seventh, five points behind Inter.
    More importantly they are seven points behind Roma, which adds extra importance to Monday's clash, as defeat would all but extinguish their hopes of European football of any kind next season.
    Their visitors are currently one of the most in-form teams in Serie A, and Roma come into this game off the back of three straight wins against Sampdoria, Torino and Udinese, all without conceding a goal, to push them back into the top four.

    Roma have now kept nine clean sheets so far in 2023, a record bettered only by Barcelona (11) of all the teams in the top five European leagues. It seems unlikely that Roma boss Jose Mourinho will allow his players to lose their focus now.

    Suggested bet: AS Roma - Draw No Bet

    Mourinho's team do still have an alternative route to the Champions League after reaching the Europa League semi-finals thanks to Thursday night's 4-1 extra-time victory over Feyenoord.

    It was a hard-fought game with Paulo Dybala coming off the bench to send the game into extra time with an 89th-minute strike. Further goals from Stephan El Shaarawy and Lorenzo Pellegrini brought the win for Roma, which was a repeat of last season's Europa Conference final.

    The effects of their midweek exploits might be felt by the Roma players, but with Dybala relatively fresh from barely 45 minutes game time, he could well get the nod to start on Monday night, and having scored in three of his last four appearances he will be hungry to add to his tally here.

    Suggested bet: Paulo Dybala to score at any time
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