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

Valencia is on a mission impossible. They need to beat Atalanta and erase a 4-1 deficit in order to advance to the quarterfinals. We’ve seen those kinds of miracles, but many doubt that Valencia can pull one off at this point. The Italians are playing one hell of a football, and many see them as a possible surprise in this edition of the UCL.

Preview

Valencia (+175) is currently under a lot of pressure as they sit seventh in La Liga and aren’t in a place that leads to the Champions League. The latest few results in the domestic championship caused them to slip down and to endanger their future pretty badly. The Bats have just one win over the previous seven events, which is way below the projected plans. During that interval, five contests ended with a moderate efficiency, meaning 2 or 3 goals, and that is the only thing constant in their matches. As for the quality of performances, things are totally different. Valencia oscillates often, and that is a product of massive problems with injuries.

On the other side, Atalanta (+137) is having a dream year. La Dea is amazing everyone, and all the neutral fans sided with them after the first part of the season. Gian Piero Gasperini’s crew isn’t accepting any compromises and knows only to attacks regardless of the current result on the scoreboard. It is no wonder why we see them scoring five or more goals per game frequently. The most recent triumph against Lecce 2-7 on the road, is something normal when talking about a team from Bergamo. The latest nine games Atalanta played saw over 2.5 scores.

Latest News

We’ve told you that the Bats have numerous troubles with absent players. Garay, Gomez, Mangala, and Piccini are all out for the upcoming event due to injuries. Gabriel skips the match because of a red card suspension, while Coquelin, Rodrigo, and Vallejo all appear questionable.

On the other side, Atalanta will play without Sutalo and Toloi, but that won’t be too big of a problem for them. Also, the Italian team had more time to prepare for the game as they didn’t play any matches in the Italian Serie A due to an outbreak of the Coronavirus.

Head to Head Matches

The first leg finished 4-1 for the hosts back then. Atalanta scored two times in each halftime, with the note that Valencia decreased the difference in the 66th minute through Cheryshev. Hateboer netted twice for the Italians, along with Ilicic and Freuler.

Prediction

You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to see that Valencia has nothing to lose in this case and that they have to attack right from the kick-off. Now, Atalanta is the No.1 scoring team in Serie A, and attacking them is very risky. Therefore, we have a logical conclusion to focus on goals. Over 2.5 is the best possible solution because of the narrative of the entire contest. The odds are not that high, but they are safe. At the moment, they sit at -225. You can increase them with BTTS and Over 2.5 at -163.