Serie A: Atalanta vs Genoa preview

Atalanta can take one more step towards their Champions League dream on Saturday, when they host Genoa at Atleti Azzurri d'Italia Stadium in Bergamo. However, the home side should be wary of Genoa because they won the reverse fixture 3-1 in December, Duvan Zapata scored from a penalty kick for Atalanta but an own-goal from Rafael Toloi and goals from Darko Lazovic and Krzysztof Piatek gave Genoa all three points. Before that match, Atalanta were on a strong five-game winning streak against Genoa. However, Atalanta have won just two of the last six home matches against Genoa. Atalanta are getting closer and closer to what seemed impossible at the start of the season: qualifying for the UEFA Champions League for the first time in the club's history. They only had a couple of entries in the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup in the 1960's and 1980's and then four qualifications for the UEFA Cup and UEFA Europa League in recent years. Last week Atalanta extended their unbeaten streak to twelve matches in all competitions and their winning streak to four games with a fine 3-1 victory at Lazio. That result consolidated their fourth place in the league table, three points clear of AC Milan and AS Roma with just three matches left in the season. Alejandro Gomez, Andrea Masiello and Gianluca Mancini are all suspended for this match, while Rafael Toloi is out injured. Genoa also have something to fight for during the final weeks of the season, they are not yet certain of their survival in the top flight because they are just four points above the relegation zone with three games left. Last week Genoa did well to hold out for a 1-1 draw at home against Roma, but that result marked their seventh match without a win. In fact, their only victory in the past couple of months was the shocking 2-0 triumph they pulled off against champions Juventus. Andrea Favilli, Luca Mazzitelli, Oscar Hiljemark and Stefano Sturaro are injured for the visitors. Probable line-ups: Atalanta: Gollini - Hateboer, Palomino, Djimsiti - Castagne, Freuler, de Roon, Gosens - Pasalic, Ilicic - Zapata Genoa: Radu - Biraschi, Romero, Zukanovic - Lazovic, Veloso, Radovanovic, Lerager, Criscito - Kouame, Lapadula My prediction: Atalanta to win 3-1, the home side have fought hard for that fourth place and they can't let it slip away now. Here are the odds for the match at Bet365: Atalanta win - 1.50 Draw - 4.20 Genoa win - 7.00