Kick Off: 8pm GMT, Thursday 11th April, Anfield, Europa League Quarter Final First Leg
Last 5 Games
- Liverpool DWWLW
- Atalanta LLWWD
Liverpool and Atalanta will look to take strides towards a place in the Europa League Semi Finals, when the two teams clash on Thursday.
The hosts currently sit 2nd in the Premier League, level on points with top of the league Arsenal, and one point ahead of third place, Manchester City.
Liverpool have come off the back of a poor performance away at Old Trafford, where their Premier League momentum was halted as they drew 2-2 with bitter rivals, Manchester United. Liverpool found themselves 1-0 up in the match, but fell behind. A penalty from Mohamed Salah was enough for Liverpool to share the points.
Liverpool will be happy to hear positive news when it comes to their squad selection, as Diogo Jota, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Alisson have all returned to training. Stefan Bajcetic also made a return, but Jurgen Klopp confirmed he’s likely to feature for the U21’s before being reinstalling in the first team squad.
Atalanta are currently in 6th position, sitting 5 points behind 5th place Roma, but La Dea have a game in hand.
Ahead of their Europa League tie, the Italian club faced mid table Cagliari away from home. Gianluca Scammaca gave Atalanta the lead, but Gian Piero Gasperini’s men couldn’t hold onto the lead, with goals coming from Tommaso Augello and Nicolas Viola, sending Atalanta home with a defeat.
The Italians travel to Liverpool with a huge gap in their squad, as Giorgio Scalvini is out for both legs suffering a hamstring injury. The 20-year-old has been impressive this season, normally taking place on the left or right of the back three. In their last match, Atalanta set up with a back three of Rafael Toloi, Berat Djimsiti and former Arsenal player, Sead Kolasinac.
These two haven’t met each other much, but they faced one another a couple of seasons ago in the Champions League group stages. Atalanta came away from Anfield with the win last time out, beating Klopp’s team 2-0. Both goals came in the second half from Josip Ilicic and Robin Gosens.
At the Gewiss Stadium, Liverpool ran away with the game, beating Atalanta 5-0, with Salah, Sadio Mane and a hat trick from Jota being the difference.
The two teams will met a week later in the return leg in Italy.
Key Players:
Mohamed Salah: It’s hard to argue anyone over Salah. As he’s been Liverpool’s main man on a European night since his arrival in 2017.
In the current Europa League campaign, the Egyptian has 4 goals and 3 assists, while only starting 3 matches in the competition.
Teun Koopmeiners: The Dutch midfield has become a figurehead in the Atalanta team, and has made a case for being one of the best midfielders in the Serie A
Koopmeiners has been a real danger from the middle of the park, with 14 goal contributions in the league this season, but is yet to score a goal in the Europa League this season. Could Thursday be his night?
Prediction:
I think it’s going to be a close match, with neither team coming into the game with the best of results. That said, Liverpool’s quality in the final third has normally be great in Europe this season, and I don’t think that will end on Thursday.
Liverpool 3-1 Atalanta
Final Whistle 