Matchday 17 Serie A TIM 2020-21 9 - 11 January 2021 09/01/2021 15:00 - CIRO VIGORITO BENEVENTO Vs ATALANTA Atalanta have won both of their Serie A TIM matches against Benevento: 1-0 in November 2017 in Bergamo and 3-0 in April 2018 at Ciro Vigorito. Atalanta have kept a clean sheet in both of their previous matches against Benevento in Serie A TIM: the Bergamaschi have faced only Frosinone (four) more times than the Campani (two) without ever conceding a goal in their history in the competition. Atalanta have lost only one of their last 25 games against newly-promoted sides in Serie A TIM (W19, D5), scoring 66 goals and conceding 16 in the process. Benevento lost 2-0 in their last home league game; they have only failed to score in two consecutive home games in Serie A TIM on one previous occasion: in their first three matches at Ciro Vigorito in the top-flight (September 2017). Atalanta have drawn their last three away league games; they could draw four matches in a row on the road in Serie A TIM for the first time since April 2015, under Edoardo Reja. Atalanta have scored the most goals from open play in Serie A TIM this season (32), including 13 of their 14 away goals. No team has scored fewer goals than Benevento in the first half hour of games in this league campaign (three goals, level with Udinese); in this period the Sanniti have also conceded the joint-most goals (12 - level with Crotone). Atalanta are Iago Falque’s favourite opponent in Serie A TIM (six goals in seven games); however, Benevento’s striker has yet to find the net in the current Serie A TIM season. Atalanta’s striker Luis Muriel has scored in each of his last four Serie A TIM games: his best streak in the Italian top-flight. Since the beginning of December, only Cristiano Ronaldo and Ciro Immobile (both six) have scored more goals than the Colombian (five). Since Robin Gosens joined Atalanta in 2017/18, he has been involved in the most goals in Serie A TIM amongst defenders (32 - 18 goals, 14 assists). 09/01/2021 18:00 - LUIGI FERRARIS GENOA Vs BOLOGNA Genoa are unbeaten in their last four Serie A TIM games against Bologna (W2, D2), after losing four of their previous six (W1, D1). Only in two of the last 14 Serie A TIM matches between Genoa and Bologna have both sides found the back of the net. Genoa have kept more clean sheets against Bologna in Serie A TIM than they have versus any other side (27 - 18 at home). Genoa are one of the two teams (level with Crotone) yet to keep a clean sheet at home in the current Serie A TIM season. Bologna have won only one of their last 12 Serie A TIM away games (D4, L7); however, after drawing 0-0 in their last match on the road, they could get two consecutive away clean sheets for the first time since September 2017 – doing so against Genoa in that run (1-0). Bologna have drawn each of their last five league games and they could equal their longest such streak in Serie A TIM: six in a row in 1980. Genoa have only scored one goal from set piece situations this term, with Criscito scoring a penalty against Spezia: fewer than any other Serie A TIM team. In 2021, Eldor Shomurodov is the Genoa player who has made the most shots in Serie A TIM (six) and the only one to have registered at least one goal and at least one assist. Bologna are the only team in Serie this campaign to have at least three players with two or more goals scored that were born after 1/1/1998: Barrow, Svanberg and Tomiyasu. Bologna’s striker Rodrigo Palacio played his first 90 Serie A TIM games with Genoa; in Rossoblù he reached career-highs for both goals (19 in 2011/12) and assists (eight in 2010/11) in a single season in the competition. 09/01/2021 20:45 - GIUSEPPE MEAZZA MILAN Vs TORINO AC Milan are unbeaten in 23 of their last 25 Serie A TIM meetings against Torino (W12 D11) – however, the two defeats came in the last three matches. AC Milan are unbeaten in their last 24 Serie A TIM home games against Torino (W16 D8), keeping 17 clean sheets in the process – the last Torino win in this exact fixture was back in March 1985: 1-0 thanks to a Walter Schachner goal. After the defeat against Juventus, AC Milan could lose two Serie A TIM matches in a row for the first time since November 2019 (v Lazio and Juventus). Torino won 3-0 their last Serie A TIM away match and could win two such games in a row for the first time since November 2019. AC Milan have conceded at least two goals in each of their last three Serie A TIM home matches and could record four in a row for the first time since 1950. Torino have conceded 20 goals in the last 30 minutes of play, at least six more than any other side in Serie A TIM 2020/21. AC Milan have conceded seven of their last nine Serie A TIM goals in the second half, five of them in the first 20 minutes after the half-break. Torino’s coach Marco Giampaolo had the lowest points per game ratio on AC Milan’s bench in Serie A TIM since 2000 (1.29 – G7 W3 L4). Among the players currently in Serie A TIM, Franck Kessié has played the most games in all competitions (23) this season. Torino’s striker Andrea Belotti has scored five Serie A TIM goals at the Meazza, only at the Olimpico (six) has he scored more in away matches in the competition. 10/01/2021 12:30 - OLIMPICO ROMA Vs INTER Inter and Roma have drawn each of their last five Serie A TIM matches: the last time two teams have drawn more games in a row in consecutive seasons in the competition was in 1995 (six, Napoli vs Torino). Matches between Roma and Inter have produced the most goals in Serie A TIM history, 503 in 174 games: 224 for the Giallorossi and 279 for the Nerazzurri (a record for a team against a single opponent in the competition). Inter have won only one of their last 11 Serie A TIM away games against Roma (D5 L5), winning 3-1 in August 2017 under Luciano Spalletti. Roma are unbeaten in their last 12 league home games (W9 D3), their longest streak since February 2017 (24 unbeaten). Inter have lost their last league game after going unbeaten in their previous 11 matches (W9 D2); they have lost two games in a row in Serie A TIM only once under Antonio Conte, losing vs Lazio and Juventus in February/March 2020. Roma have scored 3+ first half goals in three Serie A TIM matches this season, including their most recent match, last doing so four times in a season in 1999/00 (4). Inter have scored the most goals from corners (seven) and headers (eight) in Serie A TIM this season, including Stefan de Vrij's goal against Sampdoria in their last match. Edin Dzeko has directly been involved in at least one goal in six of his nine appearances against Inter in Serie A TIM (two goals, five assists), including two assists in Roma's last game against the Nerazzurri (2-2, July 2020). Since he joined Roma in 2017/18, Inter’s Aleksandar Kolarov has scored seven direct free-kick goals in Serie A TIM (all with the Giallorossi), at least three more than any other player in the competition - in the same period the Nerazzurri have scored just two in this way. Arturo Vidal has scored 23% of his Serie A TIM goals against Capital’s teams: four against both Roma and Lazio (8 out of 35). However, the Inter’s midfielder has not yet scored this season having scored at least seven goals in each of his previous four Serie A TIM seasons. 10/01/2021 15:00 - MARCANTONIO BENTEGODI HELLAS VERONA Vs CROTONE Crotone are the only team against which Verona have never scored in their Serie A TIM history; in the previous two matches one draw (0-0) at Scida in August 2017 and one defeat (0-3) at Bentegodi in January 2018. Verona have won each of their three Serie A TIM home games against newly promoted sides under Ivan Juric, scoring an average of 2.7 goals per match - the last Gialloblù manager to enjoy a longer such streak was Attilio Perotti, in March 2001, with four home wins in a row against newly promoted teams. Verona have lost two of their last three Serie A TIM games against teams bottom of the league table at the start of the matchday (W1): a 2-0 defeat against Brescia in July and 1-0 defeat vs Parma in October. Verona have lost three of their last four Serie A TIM home games (D1), after having gone unbeaten in each of their previous five, conceding just one goal (W4 D1 - also includes the awarded win against Roma). Crotone have lost at least six of their first eight Serie A TIM away games in each of their three top-flight appearances (D2 L6 in 2020/21). Verona and Crotone are the only two sides yet to win any points from a losing position in Serie A TIM this campaign.