Atalanta vs Liverpool tips and predictions: Back Reds to make a fist of unlikely comeback
- George Dempsey
- 17 April 2024
Liverpool have produced some stunning comebacks this century but overturning a 3-0 deficit against Atalanta in the Europa League on Thursday (2000 BST) would be up there.
Before Atalanta rolled into Anfield and produced a stunning demolition of Liverpool, the Italian’s home form was seen as their most realistic route to victory.
La Dea didn’t expect to board the plane home with a 3-0 lead to defend and they’ll be mighty confident of seeing the job through in Bergamo.
The Reds have previously overturned hefty deficits against Barcelona, Borussia Dortmund and, of course, AC Milan in Istanbul.
Those are a distant memory and doing it in someone else’s backyard may prove too much of a challenge, but Jurgen Klopp has plenty of ammo to motivate his squad.
A beaming Gian Piero Gasperini looked as shocked as the rest of the stadium at full-time in Liverpool and has already warned against complacency in the second leg.
His side has avoided defeat in 17 of 20 home matches across all competitions, with Roma the last side to beat them by three goals in December 2021.
In the last decade, just one side have visited Atalanta and won by four or more goals without conceding.
Diogo Jota’s hat-trick in 2020 saw the visitors race into a 5-0 lead by the hour mark, before ringing the changes and taking their foot off the gas.
Nothing about Liverpool in their current state suggests they can turn this tie around, but that’s the beauty of football.
We successfully backed PSG to make history against Barcelona last night and we’re feeling rogue again, so we’ll sprinkle a small amount on Liverpool to qualify.
In attempting to do so, the visitors should win the game which provides us with a nice cover bet. They'll also have to push forward at some stage, which increases the possibility of goals at both ends.
Team news
The hosts will be without Giorgio Scalvini and Sead Kolasinac on Thursday.
Anfield hero Gianluca Scamacca will start again, supported by Teun Koopmeiners and Charles De Ketelaere.
Joel Matip, Thiago Alcantara and Connor Bradley are ruled out for the visitors.
Trent Alexander-Arnold will provide cover at right-back while Darwin Nunez could drop out of the side to allow for a more dynamic front three including Diogo Jota.
Key stats
- The away side has won all three previous meetings by two or more goals
- There have been over 2.5 goals in 11 of Atalanta’s last 15 home matches
- There have been over 2.5 goals in 18 of Atalanta’s last 25 matches
- There have been 30 goals in Liverpool’s last eight away matches
