ATALANTA and Marseille’s Europa League semi-final tie is delicately poised going into Thursday night’s second leg tie at the Gewiss Stadium.
Last week’s first leg saw the two teams play out a 1-1 draw at the Stade Velodrome, on a night where our man Mark Walker delivered a pair of big priced winners.
Gian Piero Gasperini’s side have since moved up to fifth place in Serie A following a 2-1 win at Salernitana on Monday night.
The Bergamo-based outfit now face a quick turn around as they gear up for this week’s return match with Marseille.
Jean-Louis Gasset’s men should have the fresher legs going into his week’s second leg after being afforded the weekend off by the French FA.
The French giants are currently languishing in ninth place in Ligue 1 and are evidently prioritising success in this season's Europa League.
How the bookies view it: Atalanta to advance
Atalanta are red-hot 4/11 (Bet 365) favourites to qualify and the bookies’ odds suggest that they will get the job done inside 90 minutes at 3/4 (Bet 365).
Marseille, who have won just one of their six Europa League away games this season, are massive outsiders at 15/4 (Bet 365) to reign supreme in regulation time.
A repeat of last week’s stalemate is trading at 14/5 on Bet 365.
Head to head: Round 2 in Bergamo
Last week’s semi-final first leg was the first time that the two sides have ever crossed paths.
After coming away from the hostile and intimidating Stade Velodrome relatively unscathed, Atalanta will fancy their chances of landing a knockout blow in their own backyard.
Players to watch: Scamacca to Strike again
Gianluca Scamacca opened the scoring in France last week and he has been priced up at 11/2 (Bet 365) to repeat the trick when the teams reconvene in Italy. While that price holds plenty of appeal, I would be more inclined to side with the Italian international in the To Score or Assist market at even-money (Bet 365).
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is the leading goalscorer in this season’s Europa League and the Marseille goal-machine looks overpriced at 11/5 (PaddyPower) to enhance his 10 goal tally.
Predicted lineups
Atalanta’s Isak Hien is available again after serving a suspension last week and he could come into the side in a straight swap for Sead Kolasinac after the Bosnian hobbled off during the first leg.
Marseille trio Bamo Meite, Bilal Nadri and Valentin Rongier will all miss out again this week.
Atalanta: Carnesecchi; Djimsiti, Scalvini, Hien; Zappacosta, De Roon, Ederson, Ruggeri; Koopmeiners; De Ketelaere, Scamacca
Marseille: Lopez; Murillo, Mbemba, Balerdi; Clauss, Harit, Veretout, Kondogbia, Garcia; Aubameyang, Moumbagna.
Anything else catch the eye? Goals on the Gewiss agenda
Rather than backing Atalanta to prevail at unappealing short prices, a play on Over 2.5 Goals looks a lot more attractive at 17/20 with William Hill.
While last week’s first leg failed to deliver Over 2.5 Goals , I’m prepared to side with three or more strikes at the Gewiss Stadium.
A sizeable nine of Marseille’s 13 Europa League matches this season have produced at least three match goals, while the same wager would have also yielded profit from six of Atalanta’s 11 continental contests this term.
Thus, siding with the same selection on Thursday night makes plenty of sense at a value 17/20 (William Hill).
This UEFA Europa League match between Atalanta and Marseille will be played on May 9, 2024 and kick off at 20:00. Check below for our tipsters best Atalanta vs Marseille prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
