UEFA Champions League: Manchester United vs. Atalanta Preview, Odds, Prediction

Manchester United is desperate to post some good results, as they host Atalanta on Wednesday night. The Red Devils aren’t playing as expected in recent times, and the man to blame is their manager, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. His confusing decisions and lack of leadership most definitely caused all the poor results, and he might be out of Trafford anytime soon. Meanwhile, Atalanta is in a solid form, slowly starting to speed up following certain struggles at the start of the year.

Preview

Manchester United (-125) took a hard kick in the teeth against Leicester this weekend, losing 4-2 at Kings Power stadium, even though opening the match pretty well and taking the lead. But once again, we witnessed them deflate during the game, which is somewhat usual in the last few matches United had.

All the superstar talent they have apparently isn’t helping too much in those moments, because Solskajer’s decisions are usually either too late or wrong, therefore, additionally killing the morale of his players.

United’s defense is another problem. One clean sheet in the past 10 games is an obvious reason for concern, especially once you have one of the most efficient teams in Europe across the field. Meanwhile, the Red Devils’ scoring capabilities are inconsistent, which wasn’t the case in the past. Even though they have Ronaldo.

Atalanta (+333) was better than Empoli this weekend, beating the rivals 1-4 at their house. It was the fourth win of the Italians in the past six games, which clearly indicates that they play much better football than before.

Now, they have four points after the first two games earned with a draw on the road against Villarreal and a win over Young Boys at home. So they are coming to Old Trafford relaxed and without any pressure, which is great for this unit.

Seven of the last 10 games Atalanta played ended with over 2.5 goals, and the same number of games saw both sides scoring.

Latest News

Raphael Varane won’t play for the hosts, due to his groin injury, and Diallo, who was once Atalanta’s player, stands as doubtful. Also, Anthony Martial will be a game-time decision after receiving a knock.

Atalanta has several important players out, but they aren’t involved in team activities for some time – Robin Gosens, Matteo Pessina, Hans Hateboer, and Berat Djimsiti. Though, Atalanta’s roster is deep, and Gasperini has enough players to cover up all these absences.

Head to Head Games

These two sides never played before.

Prediction

United is a solid favorite to win, but Solskjaer’s ideas still push us away from betting on the hosts. Instead, focusing on goals is a much better idea. Manchester’s defense is shaky, and Atalanta has a superb attack. The same goes for the guests’ defense and United’s attack. So both teams scoring imposes as the best choice for this particular event. The odds are not that high, -200, but are, in our opinion, safe. If you want to increase them, add over 2.5 goals to that, and the profits will be slightly higher, -180.

Pick: Both teams to score -200

Here are the preview for more UEFA Champions League games:

• Atletico Madrid vs. Liverpool
• Ajax vs. Borussia Dortmund
• PSG vs. RB Leipzig
• Porto vs. AC Milan
• Besiktas vs. Sporting Lisbon
• Barcelona vs. Dynamo Kyiv