The game between Atalanta and Lazio is expected to be one of the most interesting post-break tactical battles. With both coaches being on charge of their teams for a few years now, it is safe to say that they have managed to build strategies that fit their players’ strengths perfectly.
Both teams have extremely pretty attack-minded approaches and have the top two attacking records in Serie A. Atalanta have scored the stunning 74 goals in the league so far, followed by Lazio with 60 goals and Juventus with 52.
There is no doubt that this is going to be a game full of tactical intelligence and the team with a smarter defensive approach and in-game flexibility will get the three points.
This preview in the form of tactical analysis aims to break down how they could expose each other and what tactics can be expected in their efforts to win.
Formations and style of play
Both Atalanta and Lazio have a lot of experience in their current formations and feel way more comfortable employing a back-three than most of the teams.
Atalanta’s signature formation 3-4-1-2/3-4-2-1 has earned them a lot of praise over the last couple of years and the great connection between the players has helped them become a constant in the top places of the league. The team’s main trait is that they use the players’ strengths in the best possible way and have built their approach regarding their abilities. That’s why the Bergamo team employ an attacking football with high tempo relying on creative and accurate actions in the final third.
They have been pretty successful against one of the best defences in Italy and lately in Champions League too. Having one of the most underrated attacking players in their squad has helped them in exposing well-structured defensive lines with their smart off the ball movement, passing and finishing abilities.
The team have a variety of attacking traits as apart from strong work under pressure and creativity in the box, they also impress with strong shooting from distance and solid set-piece performance. Their main advantage though is the players’ off the ball movement and spatial awareness, which often allow them to exploit the tiniest spaces and expose the opposition.
They’ll meet Lazio, who have finally managed to take their game to another level and by using 3-5-2/3-5-1-1 in possession has brought balance between the lines and allowed them to flourish both defensively and in attack.
Simone Inzaghi also put efforts into adjusting his strategy to his players and tried to improve the way they fir it. That’s among the reasons for their improved performance in the current season, despite they have been using this scheme previously too. Lazio have been a huge threat in front of the goal this term with Ciro Immobile being on his road of becoming the league top goalscorer.
The fluidity in the team’s build-up and their confident actions in the final third have been key so far, but what made them that successful is their defensive stability. They currently have the best defensive record in Serie A with only 23 conceded goals. The back-three often brings a lot of trouble to the teams that employ it, but Lazio’s movement and connection between the lines allow them to take advantage of it perfectly.
How Lazio could block Atalanta’s creative force?
While Lazio are performing strongly defensively, they need to create a good plan on how to stop Atalanta’s creativity and movement up front. The short pass combinations between Alejandro Gómez, Josip Iličić and the other attacking players, combined with the outstanding off the ball contribution by the wing-backs demand a high defensive awareness.
Lazio need to commit players on covering the flanks since Atalanta’s attacking force will drop immensely if the wing-backs’ movement is limited. They tend to rotate a lot in these areas, and stopping their attacks from there should decrease their efficiency. Meanwhile, limiting the space between the lines could be very important due to Gomez’s constant movement all over the final third.
With their win over Sassuolo, Atalanta showed that they can be extremely efficient even in the absence of Iličić, who is out with an ankle injury. This could though bring more confidence to Lazio’s experienced backline and increase their chances in covering the areas in and around the box.
Lazio should not allow being stretched out since every gap opened could be exploited thanks to Atalanta attackers’ impressive positional awareness. While they need to tightly cover the forward players, this could turn out too obvious. In cases when their space for movement is limited, the Bergamo team have players like Hans Hateboer and Robin Gosens who like to move off the ball and act as an additional threat.
