Quantcast
Home   >   Features   >   Atalanta vs Arsenal preview, team news, line-up and prediction

Atalanta vs Arsenal preview, team news, line-up and prediction

By on September 17, 2024

Declan Rice Bukayo Saka Arsenal

Arsenal begin their 2024/25 Champions League campaign with a tough trip to Italy to take on Atalanta on Thursday night.

This is the opening game in the revamped league format and Arsenal have been given a tricky start having to play away to Atalanta in-between two huge Premier League away games against Tottenham and Manchester City.

The first of those monumental games went very well for the Gunners as we ran out 1-0 winners away to our North London rivals on Sunday afternoon. Mikel Arteta had to deal with a number of absentees with the likes of Martin Odegaard, Mikel Merino, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Riccardo Calafiori and Takehiro Tomiyasu all missing through injury while Declan Rice was suspended.

However, despite the weakened squad, Arsenal still produced a strong display to keep a spirited Tottenham side at bay. After Gabriel Martinelli and Kai Havertz had missed decent opportunities, we opened the scoring thanks to a powerful Gabriel Magalhaes header from a Bukayo Saka corner mid-way through the second half.

Spurs pushed for the equaliser but Arsenal’s superb defensive unit held firm and we left the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium with three points for the third consecutive year thanks to a narrow 1-0 win.

It was an important victory for the Gunners after the frustrating draw with Brighton before the international break. We now sit second in the Premier League table, two points adrift of leaders Man City and one ahead of Liverpool – who slumped to a shock home defeat to Nottingham Forest on Saturday.

Arsenal’s next game in the PL is a huge trip to the Etihad Stadium to face the defending champions on Sunday afternoon. Given the title was decided by just two points last season, even this early in the campaign, this weekend’s clash could still be dubbed as a potential ‘title decider’ so Arteta will want his players ready to go to war against City.

However, unfortunately, we have an important Champions League game to worry about first as we kick-off the new league phase with a tough trip to Atalanta on Thursday night. The timing of the game means Arsenal will have very little time to prepare for the game against City as the squad won’t arrive back from Italy until Friday.

Atalanta sit ninth in the Serie A table after winning two and losing two of their opening four games. They were thrashed 4-0 away to Inter before the international break but responded with a 3-2 comeback win over Fiorentina at the weekend.

How to watch

The game will be broadcast live on TNT Sport at 8pm on Thursday night. Subscribers can watch the game on TV or via the app on mobile and tablet devices.

Match-going fans can follow all the action in person if they’re lucky to get hold of a tickets – which can be bought through the club websites or on a secondary marketplace such as Seatsnet.com.

Team news

Arsenal will assess Bukayo Saka after he limped off late on during the win over Tottenham at the weekend. The England international was reportedly only suffering from cramp so he should be available for the trip to Atalanta.

However, Odegaard is expected to miss out once again as he continues to recover from the ankle injury that he sustained while playing for Norway during the international break. The Norwegian is also facing a race against time to be fit to take on Man City on Sunday.

Summer signing Calafiori will be assessed after also picking up an ankle problem while playing for Italy earlier this month. It’s not thought to be serious but it was enough to keep him out of the win over Spurs so he remains a doubt for Thursday’s trip to Italy.

Zinchenko is expected to miss out after picking up a calf injury in training while Merino won’t return from a fractured shoulder until later in October. Tomiyasu is also still recovering from a knee injury while Kieran Tierney is another absentee for Arsenal.

However, there is some positive news as Declan Rice will return to the squad after missing the game with Tottenham due to suspension.

As for Atalanta,  Gianluca Scamacca, Giorgio Scalvini, Ben Godfrey and Rafaek Toloi are all missing due to injury, but Berat Djimsiti and Nicolo Zaniolo made successful returns to action at the weekend. Sead Kolasinac is also fit to face his former side.

Likely line-up

It will be interesting to see how Arteta lines-up with the Man City game in mind. Many fans would like to see the Spaniard rest key players for the trip to the Etihad Stadium as the last thing we need is to pick up any more untimely injuries.

However, the boss is still expected to field a very strong starting eleven with David Raya set to continue between the sticks after his impressive start to the new season.

Ben White should start at right-back once again while William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes are set to continue their rock-solid partnership together in the middle of Arsenal’s defence. If Calafiori is passed fit to return, then we could see him come in at left-back for Jurrien Timber – who completed 90 minutes for the first time in over a year at the weekend.

Rice will start in midfield after missing the Spurs game and we could see Jorginho given another run out in the middle of the park. This would allow Thomas Partey to get a breather after starting all four games so far this season.

Youngster Ethan Nwaneri impressed off the bench at the weekend and he could be given the chance to start on Thursday. Saka is unlikely to be risked so Raheem Sterling could get his full debut while Gabriel Jesus could also come in on the wing with Gabriel Martinelli making way. Kai Havertz is likely to start up front once again.

Raya, White, Saliba, Gabriel, Calafiori, Rice, Jorginho, Nwaneri, Sterling, Jesus, Havertz

Predicted score

Arsenal have never played a competitive game against Atalanta so we don’t have any historical scores to look at. It should be a good game against a decent side who will be tough to beat on home soil.

Despite making some changes to the starting eleven, I still think Arsenal have enough quality to edge it so I’m predicting a narrow 2-1 away win. Atalanta 1-2 Arsenal