Napoli will take on Atalanta at the Diego Armando Maradona stadium in the first leg tie of the Italy Cup semi-final on Wednesday. The kick-off is at 20:45 CET.

Preview

The Parthenopeans have managed to bounce back from consecutive defeats at the hands of Juventus and Verona lately as Gennaro Gattuso's side will face off the Goddess on the back of the quarter-final win over Spezia and a 2-0 victory over Parma last week. The recent rise in results, however, hasn't changed Aurelio de Laurentiis' mind as the Napoli president is yet to offer Gattuso a contract extension. Apparently, the current head coach will leave Naples when his deal expires at the end of the season as he's reportedly fallen out with the club's hierarchy.

Atalanta, in turn, got through to the semis after eliminating Lazio in the previous round of the competition last week. Gian Piero Gasperini's men, however, failed to defeat the Biancocelesti in the league on Sunday as they lost 3-1 at home. That was Atalanta's first defeat across all competitions since November.

The hosts are set to be without their star forward Dries Mertens as the Belgian continues to struggle with an ankle injury. Fabian Ruiz, meanwhile, remains doubtful due to Covid-19 restrictions.

Atalanta's defender Cristian Romero also tested positive for coronavirus this week and will miss his side's trip to Naples. Aside from the Argentine, there are no significant absentees in Gasperini's squad.

Prediction

Napoli destroyed the Goddess 4-1 in the Serie A in their previous head-to-head meeting in October. That result abviously shows the hosts' superiority over Atalanta but we wouldn't be so sure about the Parthenopeans' victory this time around. We'd say that a battling draw appears to be the likeliest outcome of the upcoming clash, especially with the second leg tie set to take place in Bergamo next week.

Tip

Draw at 3.74 with 1XBET.