After a lot of excitement in the quarterfinal matches of the Europa League, this Thursday we are looking forward to the quarterfinal clashes of both the Europa League and the Conference League, and it seems it will be very interesting again. This time, we have analyzed the duel at Anfield where the first favorite to win this competition, English Liverpool, will host Atalanta. The match between these two clubs is scheduled to start at 21h.
Liverpool: The primary goal is the Premier League, but Klopp also wants the Europa League!
The Reds are determined to win the English Premier League title this season, as well as the Europa League trophy, and it’s certain that achieving this would be the best possible farewell for Jürgen Klopp from Liverpool, as it is already known that the German expert will leave the ranks of the former European champions at the end of this season. We are witnessing an incredibly exciting battle for the English championship title, as currently Arsenal and Liverpool are tied for first place on the table, with the same number of points, while second-placed Manchester City is just one point behind.
It’s very possible that the new champion of England won’t be known until the final round. In the last match, Liverpool only managed a draw away at United, and we say “only” because the team from Old Trafford has been playing quite poorly this season and it seemed that anything other than a Liverpool victory would be a big surprise. Although the Reds started that match quite well, it ended 2:2. Arsenal took advantage of this, winning a tough away game at Brighton, and equaled the table leader in points. To make matters worse for Jürgen Klopp’s squad, Manchester City also won their away game against Crystal Palace, closing the gap to just one point behind the team from Anfield.
Before that draw in the last round against United, Liverpool won at their home stadium against Sheffield, ending the match with a 3:1 score. Regarding the Europa League, the English representative easily secured a place in the round of 16, where they demolished Sparta Prague in a two-legged tie. Interestingly, Sparta had previously eliminated Turkish Galatasaray, which was a big surprise given the strong team the Turkish representative had this season. Regardless, their quarterfinal opponent is the formidable team of Atalanta, who objectively has nothing to lose in this two-legged tie and could gain a lot. It’s also worth remembering that Liverpool has already won a trophy this season, as the Reds were better than Chelsea in the League Cup final, after extra time, and it seems the team from Anfield doesn’t want to stop at just one trophy.
Atalanta: A great opportunity for Atalanta to see if they are Champions League material!
From a team that once lingered in the lower part of the table, Gian Piero Gasperini has, in a few years, crafted a team capable of beating absolutely anyone in Italy. The outstanding performances of the Bergamo team have often been crowned with placements in the Champions League. We all remember that generation led by Iličić and Papu Gomez, which was close to reaching the semifinals of Europe’s most prestigious club competition. Unfortunately, the Italian representative faltered in the final moments against PSG, who reached the final that year, only to lose to Bayern Munich.
Last season, Atalanta had to settle for a place in the Europa League, noting that it was indeed the primary goal of the popular Goddess, who reached the top of the group ahead of second-placed Sporting with little trouble. By the draw’s design, these two teams faced off again in the round of 16, and Atalanta emerged as the better side. This perhaps best shows how well the Bergamo team is performing this season, as Sporting is close to the Portuguese championship title, ahead of teams like Benfica and Porto.
Once again, the Italian representative wasn’t lucky in the draw, as they got Liverpool, the first favorite of the competition, in the battle for the semifinals. However, as we just mentioned, Gian Piero Gasperini’s charges have nothing to lose in this two-legged tie, but could gain a lot.
Regarding this year’s Italian Serie A, it appears that Atalanta will be fighting for a Europa League spot until the end of the season, although it seems the Goddess hasn’t yet bid her final farewell in the battle for a place in the elite competition. Currently, Gasperini’s pupils are in sixth place on the table, eight points behind fourth-placed Bologna, but with a game in hand over this team.
In the last round, Koopmeiners and his teammates, unfortunately, lost in a tough away game against Cagliari, with the Sardinian team winning 2:1. Prior to that, the sixth-placed team played a pretty good match away against the current champions Napoli, ending the clash at the “Diego Armando Maradona” stadium with a score of 0:3. If Atalanta plays against Liverpool like they did in that match in southern Italy, it’s certain that the Goddess will have something to say at Anfield.
Our Betting Suggestions
First of all, although the stakes are high, we believe this duel will bring quite a few goals, so we advise you to try the Total OVER 3.5 Goals option, for which betBonanza has prepared an odds of 2.10.
Of course, in this first match, the English representative is a big favorite, so we suggest you play Liverpool to Win with odds of 1.36 at betBonanza.
Finally, we believe that the least Atalanta can do in this away game is to score at least one goal, so we advise you to opt for the Atalanta total OVER 0.5 Goals bet, which betBonanza pays with odds of 1.60.
Be the first to comment