Atalanta v Arsenal: Prediction, Tips and Odds

Arsenal are in the midst of a difficult run of fixtures and they face a tricky test in their UEFA Champions League opener against Atalanta, who created history last season by winning the Europa League.

Not only does this trip to Bergamo come four days on from a hard-fought 1-0 win at North London rivals Tottenham, but the Gunners face a Premier League title showdown with Manchester City at the Etihad on Sunday and that could be at the forefront of Mikel Arteta’s mind.

With eight games to play in the league phase of the UEFA Champions League, Arsenal can afford the occasional slip-up and with the injuries also totting up, they look vulnerable favourites in Italy.

Atalanta have had a mixed start to their Serie A season, winning twice and losing twice, but they showed their talents in last season’s Europa League success.

That victory culminated with an emphatic 3-0 win over Bayer Leverkusen in the final and that was the only defeat the Bundesliga champions suffered during the entire campaign.

Atalanta v Arsenal betting tips and predictions

Atalanta or draw double chance - 10/11

In last season’s UEFA Champions League, Arsenal lost away at Lens, Porto and Bayern Munich, while also being held to a draw at PSV, and they make little appeal at odds-on at Atalanta.

The Gunners may have taken 10 points from their first four Premier League outings but they have a possible distraction with Sunday's crunch clash with Manchester City, who top the English charts with a perfect four wins from four, looming large.

Captain Martin Odegaard is injured while Bukayo Saka was forced off in the closing stages of Sunday's win over Tottenham to also throw his involvement into doubt, making them a less attractive proposition than would usually be the case.

Atalanta sparked into life to win the Europa League last season and not only did they upstage Leverkusen in the final, but they also outclassed Liverpool in the quarter-finals with a 3-1 aggregate success.

All four of Arsenal’s Premier League matches have seen under 2.5 goals and they will be looking to keep things tight and utilise their star quality in the crunch moments.

Atalanta are an attack-minded side under Gian Piero Gasperini though, and they are sure to pose plenty of problems for an Arsenal defence that is unlikely to be too dissimilar to the one that helped them to a 1-0 victory at north London rivals Spurs.

Arteta will want to shuffle his pack ahead of Sunday’s trip to City, but a number of injuries make that difficult and Atalanta can expose any vulnerabilities.

Mateo Retegui to score at anytime - 13/5

Italian international Mateo Retegui has hit the ground running since signing for Atalanta from Genoa, netting four goals in as many Serie A appearances.

The 25-year-old had a decent scoring record at Genoa, having scored seven goals in 29 appearances, but receiving better service at Atalanta is making all the difference.

With Gianluca Scamacca sidelined through injury, Retegui has free rein spearheading Atalanta’s attack and he looks a big price to get on the scoresheet against Arsenal, who may be too focused on trying to halt Ademola Lookman.

Marten de Roon to be shown a card - 15/8

Marten de Roon has the job of protecting Atalanta’s defence and retrieving possession and with that responsibility comes lots of fouls and, ultimately, bookings.

The Dutch dictator has already picked up two yellow cards in four starts this season while last term his 51 appearances yielded 14 cards, three of which came in the Europa League.

Arsenal are likely to see plenty of the ball and they are blessed with an array of attacking stars, something which could soon catch De Roon out.

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Atalanta v Arsenal odds

Atalanta - 3/1
Draw - 14/5
Arsenal - 17/20

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This article was written by a partner sports writer via Spotlight Sports Group. All odds displayed on this page were correct at the time of writing and are subject to withdrawal or change at any time.