Atalanta v Liverpool Betting Tips [18 April 2024]

Liverpool will be hoping to salvage their Europa League campaign when they head to Italy to face Atalanta this Thursday. Going into this quarterfinal return leg, hosts Atalanta lead the tie 3-0 after a convincing performance at Anfield last week. A place in the semis against either Roma or AC Milan is the prize for the winner in this tie. Atalanta will be keen to set up this all-Italian semi, and they have a crucial advantage to start from. A brace from Gianluca Scamacca and Mario Pasalic’s finish gave Atalanta this comfortable buffer in the first leg. They however failed to build on it in the Serie A, drawing 2-2 with Verona in their last game. Scamacca’s fine run of form was on show again as he scored the opening goal in the Verona draw. Atalanta let a 2-0 lead slip, and now have just a win in their last four matches. In the last eight matches, the Italian has now scored seven goals and will be crucial for Atalanta here. This fine form coincides with Atalanta’s good returns at home in this competition; they have three wins in four home matches.

Things don’t look very positive for Liverpool coming into this game. Before this match, losing twice on the bounce at Anfield was unthinkable, but that’s what the Reds are dealing with. They are coming from a 1-0 loss to Crystal Palace, a defeat that came right after the 3-0 loss to Atalanta. It also doesn't help that Liverpool have lost their last two matches against Atalanta, without scoring. A heavy home loss calls for the Premier League giants to go for a big win in Italy. Well, they’ve done it before, beating Atalanta 5-0 away in 2020, and they have the quality to repeat that. The only problem for the Reds now is if they have the defensive capacity to keep the Italians out. Jurgen Klopp’s side has failed to keep a clean sheet in the last nine matches. Their loss to Palace marked three straight winless outings and they’ve conceded two or more in three of the last six matches. In their last three away matches in the Europa League, Liverpool suffered two defeats.

Liverpool are on the backfoot coming into this game. They have a massive deficit to overturn here and taking on an Atalanta side doing well at home makes things harder. The fact that they have to attack, and in light of their poor defensive run, Liverpool will definitely leave spaces behind. This will open them up to Atalanta attacks. Our prediction for Atalanta v Liverpool is for Atalanta to win.