Atalanta will be aiming to maintain their unbeaten record in the Europa League as they welcome Sporting CP to Gewiss Stadium on Thursday. The Italians have been the team to beat in Group D and should have too much for Sporting, who have been a bit erratic in the competition.
It has been a solid Europa League campaign so far for Atalanta, who are yet to taste defeat after four matches. They picked up a 1-0 victory over Sturm Graz last time out to make it three wins and a draw, and need just a point on Thursday to be confirmed as Group D winners.
While things have been good in Europe, Atalanta have looked a bit erratic everywhere else. They have picked up just two wins from their last six matches across all competitions and were beaten 2-1 at home by Napoli in a Serie A fixture last weekend.
Despite that defeat to Napoli, Atalanta have been generally solid at Gewiss Stadium this season. Gian Piero Gasperini’s men have picked up five wins from their last eight home matches across all competitions.
Sporting CP are closely behind Atalanta in Group D and look well on course to join the Italians in the knockout stage. Ruben Amorim’s men have a comfortable three point cushion in second place having suffered just one defeat in four matches so far.
The Portuguese giants picked up a 2-1 victory over Rakow Czestochowa in their previous Europa League fixture. They raced to a two-goal lead through Pote before the Polish side pulled one back midway through the second half.
Sporting CP head into Thursday’s clash in good form having claimed seven wins in their last nine matches across all competitions, including an 8-0 victory over Duminense last weekend. They are also unbeaten in seven of their last eight away matches but were beaten 2-1 by Benfica in their previous fixture on the road.
How the bookies view it
Atalanta have the upper hand among the bookies with a home win priced at 23/20 by 10bet. A victory for Sporting CP is valued at 23/10 by Paddy Power while a draw is set at odds of 27/10 by Unibet.
Head to head
The reverse fixture was the first ever meeting between both teams, with Atalanta claiming a 2-1 victory.
Players to watch
Gianluca Scamacca often leads the line for Atalanta and could be the one to watch on Thursday. The striker has five goals this season and is priced at 15/8 by William Hill to get on the score sheet.
Sporting CP will look to Viktor Gyokeres to provide the spark in attack having scored five times in his last four matches across all competitions. The striker was also on target in the reverse fixture and is priced at 13/5 by Unibet to maintain his scoring run.
Anything else catch the eye?
Both teams were on target in the reverse fixture and a similar outcome is priced at 4/6 by Unibet. That fixture also produced over 2.5 goals, which is priced at 10/13 by Unibet, who is also offering odds of 2/1 for over 3.5 goals.
There have been second half goals for both teams in two of Atalanta’s last three home matches and a similar pattern is priced at 2/1 by William Hill.
This UEFA Europa League match between Atalanta and Sporting CP will be played on Nov 30, 2023 and kick off at 17:45. Check below for our tipsters best Atalanta vs Sporting CP prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
