Squawka
·17. September 2024
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·17. September 2024
Atalanta return to the Champions League for the first time since the 2021/22 season when they face one of the favourites for the trophy, Arsenal, at the Gewiss Stadium in Bergamo on Thursday, with the match being shown live on TNT Sports 1 at 8pm BST.
Atalanta: Carnesecchi; Djimsiti, Hien, Kolasinac; Bellanova, De Roon, Ederson, Ruggeri; Lookman, Retegui, De Ketelaere
Arsenal: Raya; White, Saliba, Magalhaes, Timber; Partey, Rice; Saka, Trossard, Martinelli; Havertz
Arsenal kept the pressure on defending Premier League champions Manchester City at the weekend as they defeated north London rivals Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday, but now Mikel Arteta’s attention turns towards a competition that the Gunners have not excelled at in recent years.
Arsenal made it to the quarter-finals of the Champions League for the first time since 2010 last term and they begin this season’s instalment as third-favourites for the trophy.
The visitors are favourites to begin the new-look Champions League group stage with a win over Atalanta, an unsurprising fact given the Europa League winners began their season in worrying fashion.
The Bergamo outfit have lost three of their five competitive games and have shipped 10 goals in the process, so they may struggle to match an Arsenal side that have conceded only once this season.
Arsenal were without the midfield duo of Declan Rice and Martin Odegaard for their weekend win over Spurs, with the former suspended and the latter out through injury after picking up an ankle problem on international duty.
To make matters worse, Gunners star Bukayo Saka limped off at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, potentially joining Mikel Merino, Takehiro Tomiyasu, and Kieran Tierney on the sidelines.
However, rumours suggest that Saka was only suffering from cramp, though, and should be fit to face Atalanta, and Rice will return to the fray after serving his Premier League suspension.
Odegaard could also recover in time, meaning he is listed as a doubt alongside new signing Riccardo Calafiori and Oleksandr Zinchenko.
Gabriel Jesus and Raheem Sterling will be looking to start at the Gewiss Stadium after coming off the bench on Sunday.
Atalanta do not have the same level of concern, with their only confirmed absentees being former West Ham striker Gianluca Scamacca and young centre-back Giorgio Scalvini.
Rafael Toloi is unlikely to recover from a muscle injury in time to line up against Arsenal, though, while former Everton man Ben Godfrey is a doubt with a minor back injury.
Mateo Retegui, who has already scored four Serie A goals this season, will lead the line for La Dea, with the talented duo of Charles De Ketelaere and Ademola Lookman joining him on in attack after all three of them scored in Atalanta’s 3-2 win over Fiorentina at the weekend.