Europa League winners face the Gunners

Europa League champions Atalanta begin their Champions League campaign with a tough fixture against Arsenal on Thursday.

La Dea defeated Leverkusen in the Europa League Final to earn a place in the Champions League in 2024/25, while Arsenal finished second in the Premier League.

The Gunners head into these fixtures as one of the tournament favourites.

Match Preview

Atalanta Recent Form

Atalanta haven’t had a great start to the new campaign. Even before the Serie A season kicked off, they lost the European Super Cup to Real Madrid.

In domestic action, they have won two against Lecce and Fiorentina and lost two versus Torino and Inter.

Atalanta Injury News

Atalanta will be missing two of their most important players until 2025 as both Gianluca Scamacca and Giorgio Scalvini have serious knee injuries.

Rafael Toloi and Ben Godfrey missed the win against Fiorentina at the weekend and their fitness will be assessed closer to kick-off.

Sead Kolasinac, Berat Djimsiti and Nicolo Zaniolo have all returned from injury.

Last Atalanta Lineup

Here’s how Atalanta lined up against Fiorentina.

Arsenal Recent Form

Arsenal have made a positive start in the Premier League, winning four out of their opening five games against Everton, Wolves, Aston Villa and then Tottenham at the weekend.

At the end of August, they drew against Brighton and so are already a couple of points behind Man City at the top of the table.

Arsenal Injury News

Influential captain Martin Odegaard will be out until the end of October after picking up an ankle injury on international duty, while Mikel Merino and Riccardo Calafiori are still out.

Bukayo Saka was withdrawn in the North London Derby due to a knock but there is hope he’ll be fit to face both Atalanta and then Man City this weekend.

Declan Rice is available again after hid domestic suspension.

Last Arsenal Lineup

Here’s how Arsenal lined up against Tottenham.

Atalanta – Player To Watch

Ademola Lookman made his first Serie A appearance of the season at the weekend and…

Source link : https://www.footballcritic.com/uefa-champions-league-atalanta-bc-arsenal-fc/preview/3516617

Author : [email protected] (Martin Macdonald)

Publish date : 2024-09-18 10:22:15

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