An exciting contest is predicted as Atalanta host Bayer Leverkusen in their UEFA Europa League round of 16 clash. Both teams often adopt an open style of play and given their vulnerable backlines, Thursday's clash is likely to serve up goals.
Atalanta showed their quality in the playoffs as they did the double over Greek side Olympiakos to book their place in the round of 16. Gian Piero Gasperini’s men won 2-1 in Bergamo before earning a 3-0 victory in the second leg for a 5-1 aggregate win.
It has not been the best campaign for Atalanta, who have constantly battled inconsistency this season. They have claimed three wins from their last five matches across all competitions but were beaten 1-0 by Roma in Serie A last Saturday.
Atalanta have shown some improvement at home lately, winning their last two matches at Gewiss Stadium, including a 4-0 Serie A victory over Sampdoria. They have however kept just one clean sheet in their last five matches on their own turf.
Bayer Leverkusen finished top of the pile in the group stage of the competition and were not involved in the round of 32 playoffs. They suffered just one defeat and claimed four wins from their six matches in the group phase.
The Germans bear a few similarities to Atalanta as they have also been slightly erratic this season. Gerardo Seoane's team have claimed just one win from their last three matches, but will take plenty of confidence from their 1-1 draw at Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich last Saturday.
Led by the impressive Moussa Diaby, the goals have flowed freely for Bayer Leverkusen with a 5-2 victory over Borussia Dortmund among their recent wins on the road. However, like Atalanta they have also struggled defensively and are without a clean sheet in their last 11 away matches across all competitions.
How the bookies view it
Atalanta have the upper hand among the bookies and are priced at evens with Unibet to win on Thursday. A victory for Bayer Leverkusen is valued at 3/1 by bet365 while a draw is set at odds of 11/4 by SBK.
Head to head
This will be the first ever meeting between Atalanta and Bayer Leverkusen.
Players to watch
Strikers Duvan Zapata and Luis Muriel have looked off colour lately so Atalanta have spread their goals across the team. Midfielder Ruslan Malinovskyi netted a brace last time out against Olympiakos and is priced at 12/5 by Unibet to get on the score sheet.
Moussa Diaby will be the one to watch for Bayer Leverkusen with top scorer Patrik Schick currently out injured. The French attacker has seven goals in his last five matches and could be backed to score anytime at 10/3 with bet365.
Anything else catch the eye?
Atalanta and Bayer Leverkusen have netted most of their recent goals after the break so both teams could be backed to score in the second half at 15/8 with Paddy Power. The second half could also be tipped as the highest scoring half at evens with betfair.
Bayer Leverkusen have seen over 3.5 goals in two of their last three away matches and given quality in both attacks, a similar outcome could be considered at 17/10 with BetVictor.
This UEFA Europa League match between Atalanta and Bayer Leverkusen will be played on Mar 10, 2022 and kick off at 20:00. Check below for our tipsters best Atalanta vs Bayer Leverkusen prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.