Will both sides score?
Atalanta Bergamo take on Olympiakos Piraeus in an Italian-Greek clash in the sixteenth round of the Europa League. The visitors arrive as league leaders in the domestic Super League and have not lost a single game in domestic league action this season after 22 league games already (15-7-0).
The home side are again in fifth place in Serie B and are thus in contention for places in the next edition of the top flight.
Atalanta Bergamo – Statistics & current form
The Lombards had to drop out of the Champions League group stage, which is why they now find themselves in the Europa League.
For the Bergamo side, third place in a quite feasible group, in which only Manchester United were still represented as a top team, was naturally a disappointment, especially as they had their fate in their own hands in the final match in the direct comparison with Villarreal right up to the end.
At the moment, however, things are only going so well in Serie A. Bergamo have not won in four rounds and even lost to 18th-placed Cagliari in this flashback. But at least the dress rehearsal against Juventus last weekend was not lost. The Black and Blues drew 1-1 with the “Old Lady” on their own ground.
However, the draw meant they missed out on moving up to fourth place, which continues to be occupied by the Italian record champions.
Top scorer still missing
Personelly, the Nerazzurri will also have to do without their top striker Duvan Zapata at the moment. The Colombian has scored at least 15 goals for Atalanta in the past three seasons in Serie A and his performances this season are once again strong, with nine goals in 17 appearances.
The fact that his absence weakens the home side’s attack has already been observed in the previous rounds of the top flight: La Dea” scored only two goals in the last four league games.
Admittedly, with the exception of Cagliari, the tasks have also been very demanding, since, as mentioned above, the last match was against Juve and, on top of that, against the champions from Milan and seventh in the table in the shape of Lazio Roma.
Maximum two goals by Atalanta?
In the clash between Atalanta Bergamo and Olympiakos Piraeus, the odds on a maximum of two goals from coach Gian Piero Gasperini’s side are also interesting.
Predicted line-up of Atalanta Bergamo:
Musso – Demiral – Toloi – Djimsiti – Zappacosta – Freuler – de Roon – Hateboer – Koopmeiners – Muriel – Boga
Last matches played by Atalanta Bergamo:
Serie A
02/13 2022 – Atalanta Bergamo 1 – 1 Juventus FC
Coppa Italia
02/10 2022 – Atalanta Bergamo 2 – 3 AC Florence
Serie A
02/06 2022 – Atalanta Bergamo 1 – 2 Cagliari
01/22 2022 – Lazio Roma 0 – 0 Atalanta Bergamo
01/16 2022 – Atalanta Bergamo 0 – 0 Inter Milan
Olympiakos Piraeus – Statistics & current form
The Greeks have played an international match against an Italian club 26 times in their history and the record is negative with seven wins, five draws and 14 defeats. Against Juve alone, the Red and Whites have conceded eight defeats in a dozen matches in their history!
The performances in the last group phase were also only partially satisfactory from the visitors’ point of view. In the end, second place in Group D was achieved despite three defeats in the six group matches (3-0-3). Admittedly, the tasks were also quite demanding with Antwerp and Eintracht from Frankfurt and Fenerbahce from Istanbul.
El-Arabi also likes to score on the European stage
Coach Pedro Martins will now mainly rely on Youssef El-Arabi in the offensive. The Moroccan has been the top scorer in the Greek top flight for the past two seasons and also impressed in the group stage and previous qualifiers of the Europa League.
In the eight games in this context, the attacker scored four times for the country’s reigning champions. Against this backdrop, the odds on his next goal celebrations in Atalanta Bergamo’s clash against Olympiakos Piraeus are equally compelling.
Predicted line-up of Olympiakos Piraeus:
Vaclik – Reabciuk – Manolas – Lala – M’Vila – Camara – Bouchalaki – Soares – Ba – Msaouras – El Arabi
Last matches played by Olympiakos Piraeus:
Super League
02/13 2022 – Olympiakos Piraeus 1 – 0 AEK Athens
Cup
02/09 2022 – Olympiakos Piraeus 3 – 1 Panetolikos
Super League
02/06 2022 – Ionikos 0 – 3 Olympiakos Piraeus
02/02 2022 – Olympiakos Piraeus 3 – 1 Panetolikos
01/30 2022 – PAOK Thessaloniki FC 1 – 1 Olympiakos Piraeus
Atalanta Bergamo – Olympiakos Piraeus Direct comparison / H2H record
This is the first time that this clash has taken place on the international stage. Furthermore, the Italians have only played against a representative from Greece once before. Atalanta faced OFI Crete twice in the European Cup Winners’ Cup in the 1987/88 season.
After a 1-0 defeat in the first leg on the island, Bergamo booked their place in the quarter-finals with a 2-0 win in front of their own crowd. In the end, Atalanta made it all the way to the semi-finals, where they were beaten by the eventual Belgian winners from Mechelen.
The Greeks also have fond memories in terms of their last clash with a Serie A club, with the country’s record champions twice beating AC Milan 3-1 in the then Europa League group stage in the 2018/19 season.
Atalanta Bergamo – Olympiakos Piraeus Tip
Last year’s Serie A third-placed side have always been a very efficient goal-scoring machine in recent years, but they are currently lacking in attack. One reason is that Zapata, a powerful attacker, is missing.
In addition, another reliable attacking player, the Slovenian oldie Josip Iličić, is currently unavailable due to an injury. For the clash between Atalanta Bergamo and Olympiakos Piraeus, the tip is still for a goal celebration on both sides.
Even without the two attacking talents, the home side have enough quality in their forward play, at least with regard to the upcoming task. The Greeks are the underdogs in the encounter and have less quality in terms of personnel.
However, the 46-time Greek champions have a prolific attacker in El Arabi, who has scored three times in the Europa League group stage.
In addition, the home side’s defence is not solid at home: only in five of the 17 home games of the Italian Cup winners of 1963 has the respective opponent failed to score at least once.
