3 days Ago By Jonathan Gorrie
Arsenal begin what is a tough opening in the revamped Champions League away at Atalanta this week. The Gunners made progress in Europe’s elite club competition last season, reaching their first quarter-final since 2010 before eventually going out at the hands of Bayern Munich. Their return to the grandest stage was another example of how Mikel Arteta is moving to restore former glories but the Arsenal chief has been dealt a difficult hand in the new-look league phase.
Atalanta thrashed Bayer Leverkusen in the Europa League final in May and represent a difficult opening opponent before Arteta squares off against the likes of Paris Saint-Germain and Inter Milan . Here’s everything you need to know about the game. Atalanta vs Arsenal is scheduled for an 8pm BST kick-off time on Thursday 19 September, 2024.
The Gewiss Stadium in Bergamo will host. TV channel : The game will be broadcast on TNT Sports 1. Live stream : Subscribers will be able to watch on a live stream via the Discovery+ app.
LIVE coverage: Follow all the action with Standard Sport ’s dedicated match blog! The Gunners are rarely had it so bad with injuries as they now have fears over Bukayo Saka’s fitness, along with captain Martin Odegaard, summer signings Riccardo Calafiori and Mikel Merino and others. Saka was forced off in the closing stages of Sunday’s win over Tottenham to throw his involvement into doubt, while Odegaard is expected to be out for a few weeks. Updates on both will come ahead of the game.
Jorginho and Gabriel Jesus will likely deputise should the pair miss out. Atalanta welcomed Berat Djimsiti and Nicolo Zaniolo back for the win over Fiorentina, along with former Arsenal man Sead Kolasinac. Rafael Toloi, Ben Godfrey, Giorgio Scalvini and Gianluca Scamacca are all still sidelined.
It’s a tough away game for Arsenal in the midst of a difficult run of fixtures and something of an injury crisis. For that reason, it’s easy to imagine them wanting to keep things tight. Draw, 0-0 .
The two teams have never played a competitive game. Atalanta to win: 13/5 Draw: 2/1 Arsenal to win: 4/5 Odds via Betfair and subject to change ..
