Fiorentina vs Atalanta: Preview and Where To Watch

After what could admittedly be described as Quite A Good Week, Fiorentina will be hoping to extend their good form with a home match against Atalanta. Before we delve into the ins and outs of the upcoming game, let's take a second to remember the hilarity of that match against Inter. And then, if that wasn't quite enough, let's relive Thursday's antics against Belenenses, when Paulo Sousa played four strikers and notched four goals. As both Aubrey Graham and Jasper Beardley have said, 'what a time to be alive.'

Fiorentina

Did we mention Fiorentina are top of the table? Well, they are. Top of the table. Number one. The Big Cheeses. Sure, it's only October, but it's still quite fun and a reflection of the team's excellent league form. Carrying on from last season, La Viola have racked up eleven victories from the last twelve games.

In terms of injuries, there's not much news. The front line are mostly healthy, seemingly at the expensive of the defense. Roncaglia has been struggling with a knee injury, while Gilberto is out for about a month. Pasqual is currently sitting on the sidelines, but Gonzalo should be fit and raring to go after suspension saw him skip the Europa League match.

Midweek saw the glorious return of Giuseppe Rossi. Banging in a goal to coincide with his new contract signing, the league fixture might well see everyone's favorite Jersey Boy return to the bench. But before we all howl and cry, let's remember that Nikola Kalinic is the reason. The Croatian has been in stunning form recently, grabbing a hat trick at the San Siro last week.

Borja Valero also sat out the midweek fixture, so expect the Spainiard to return to the starting eleven. As ever with Paulo Sousa, however, trying to predict the line up is becoming increasingly difficult. Feel free to make bold predictions in the comments, with the closest winning a small prize*.

*there is no prize other than a tremendous sense of self-worth. And recs. Probably lots.

Atalanta

Atalanta are not having as much fun this year. They are not top of the table. That is where Fiorentina are. Instead, they're sitting in 8th, with eleven points from six matches. They've won four games, including a good home win over Sampdoria, but a loss to Inter and draws against Hellas Verona and Sassuolo give a good indication of their quality.

In terms of their team, they do have Chilean striker Mauricio Pinilla, who famously has a tattoo of himself hitting the post in a World Cup game. He's likely to start over Germán Denis who - as his name would suggest - is Argentine. Pinilla has two goals thus far, looking lively. Conversely, the Atalanta defense is a bit slow. Seeing as Atalanta are comfortably in midtable (and Fiorentina are top,) it's not out of this world to expect a decent game, if not a goal-fest.

Projected lineups

Fiorentina: (3-5-2) Tatarusanu; Roncaglia, Gonzalo, Astori; Kuba, Vecino, Badelj, Borja, Alonso; Iličić, Kalinić

Atalanta (4-3-3): Sportiello, Masiello, Paletta, Cherubin, Bellini; Carmona, De Roon, Durtic; Moralez, Pinilla, A. Gomez.

Prediction: Fiorentina 2 -1 Atalanta

How to watch

TV: In Italy, the game will be shown across Premium Calcio, Sky Calcio 2, SKY Go Italia. BTSport Extra will have the game in the UK and Ireland. Americans might need to look into alternatives, as coverage might be hard to come by.

Online: You can find a list of legal streams for the game here. Any posts of illegal streams in the comments will be deleted, and repeat offenders will be banned. As always, you can follow along with our live updates on Twitter and like our Facebook page.

Forza Viola.