Champions League: Atalanta vs. Valencia Preview, Odds and Prediction

Atalanta is one of the nicest surprises of this Champions League edition. The Italian team advanced throughout the group stage with a massive dose of luck and now has solid chances to reach the quarterfinals. However, they will have to eliminate a very nasty Valencia, who is one of the most unpredictable teams in both La Liga and UCL. You simply never know how Bats will play once they enter the pitch.

Preview

Atalanta (-140) is the favorite in this particular match. La Dea, has three wins and a draw in the previous four events, and in all of them, they scored at least twice. Believe it or not, Atalanta has the best attack in Serie A, and besides Inter, Juve, Lazio, Roma etc, this team stands above, proving that they might be the most appealing Italian club for watching. Papu Gomez, Ilicic, Zapata all these guys will create a lot of troubles for the Spaniards, who have a lot of problems right now. La Dea netted in each of its previous 10 games, regardless of the competition, with the note that they poured five scores against Milan and Parma and seven against Torino on the road.

Valencia (+400) is flooded with injuries. There are several players whose status is still not available because the medical teams are trying to make them available for this contest. Several of them picked up some hits against Atletico Madrid this weekend, in a 2-2 draw, which might cost them dearly in the end. That one point in the domestic championship could be lethal for the Bats’ European odyssey if Atalanta uses all of their issues. After four wins in a row, among them one against Barcelona, Valencia posted two losses and a draw in the previous three events. The crisis is not that big, but it could be after this clash. The latest six games they played saw three or more goals, which is a bit unusual for this side.

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There are no injured or suspended players among the home team.

On the other side, the situation among the visitors is pretty bad. Ezequiel Garay is out, while, Rodrigo, Manu Vallejo, Jasper Cillessen, Francis Coquelin, and Gabriel Paulista are all questionable.

Head to Head Games

Atalanta and Valencia had one friendly international game in 2017. The Italian club posted a win, 1-2 with the scorers Rafael Toloi and Jose Luis Palomino. Ruben Vezo provided the only goal for the hosts of that event.

Prediction

A lot of things here depend upon Valencia’s injury situation. There are several pretty important players who are under a question mark, and if they have to skip Wednesday’s meeting, Albert Celades’ crew will have a lot of problems.

We are going here with Atalanta to score two goals, and will avoid the final outcome. We find it better to bet on the hosts’ efficiency because that proved to be the winning pick many times since the season started. The odds on this one are at -163, which is not that high, but it is safe from our point of view.