Atalanta are set to host Villarreal in a must-win game in the Champions League on Wednesday night.
Venue: Atleti Azzurri d’Italia
Key statistics
- Atalanta and Villarreal played out a 2-2 draw in the reverse fixture earlier this season.
- Villarreal are second in Group F with 7 points, with Atalanta trailing them at third place (6 points)
- The Yellow Submarine have won only one of their eight away games against Italian opponents in European competitions, with that victory coming against AS Roma in the 2016/17 season.
- Atalanta are fourth in Serie A rankings this season while Villarreal are 13th in the La Liga table.
Head to Head record
Villarreal and Atalanta met for the first time in the Champions League earlier this season, with the game ending in a 2-2 draw.
Latest performances in all competitions.
Atalanta: W D W W W
Villarreal: D L L W L
Atalanta
Atalanta have to win their final group stage game against Villarreal in order to qualify for the round of 16.
The Goddess will enter Wednesday’s clash full of confidence after beating heavy-weights Napoli 3-2.
Furthermore, they have made their way into the fourth position in Serie A after being unbeaten for eight games in a row.
Duvan Zapata is in superb form this season, racking up 11 goals and 4 assists in all competitions. He also ranks fourth in the Serie A scoring charts.
Mario Pasalic has also been productive this season, mustering 7 goals and 5 assists in Serie A, which includes a stellar hat-trick against Venezia.
Gasperini’s men are deemed as the favourites for Wednesday’s clash, as they would try to progress to the knockouts for the third consecutive season.
Possible Atalanta line-up
Juan Musso; Merih Demiral, Jose Luis Palomino, Rafael Toloi; Joakim Maehle, Marten de Roon, Remo Freuler, Davide Zappacosta; Ruslan Malinovskyi, Mario Pasalic, Duvan Zapata
Injured: Matteo Lovato, Robin Gosens
Doubtful: None
Suspended: None
Villarreal
Although Villarreal are second in Group F, they should not afford to lose their final game in the group stage against Atalanta.
The odds are against the Yellow Submarine, who have been underperforming this season.
Unai Emery’s side are 13th in La Liga table and have suffered back to back defeats against Barcelona and Sevilla.
If they fail to win their game against Italian giants and Young Boys manage to beat Manchester United, Villarreal would be relegated to Europa League.
Possible Villarreal line-up
Geronimo Rulli; Alfonso Pedraza, Pau Torres, Raul Albiol, Juan Foyth; Etienne Capoue, Manu Trigueros, Dani Parejo; Moi Gomez, Yeremi Pino, Gerard Moreno
Injured: None
Doubtful: Francis Coquelin, Serge Aurier
Suspended: None
Prediction
Atalanta 3 – 0 Villarreal
