Atalanta VS Paris Saint Germain Match Prediction
2020-08-12
19:00:00
Atalanta
VS
Paris Saint Germain
Our Prediction Tip
Paris Saint Germain will win this match.
2020-08-1219:00:00 Paris Saint Germain will win this match.
This will be the first time these two teams have met in European competition. Indeed, Atalanta’s only previous game against French opposition in Europe were their two group games – which they won and drew – against Lyon in the Europa League group stage in 2017.
Atalanta suffered a poor start to their Champions League campaign, with heavy defeats to Dinamo Zagreb and Manchester City as they opened with three defeats.
Indeed, they took just one point from their first four games, but incredibly bounced back to qualify for the last 16 and then stepped it up with eight goals against Valencia.
Josip Ilicic scored five of those eight, however, including all four in the second leg, and he will be greatly missed up front.
Atalanta fell just short of 100 goals in the Serie A season and it has to be questioned whether they could have checked off that milestone had he been available.
Without Ilicic, however, they do still have plenty of attacking talent. Mario Pasalic, Duvan Zapata and Luis Muriel have scored plenty, while Papu Gomez supplies plenty of assists.
They are outsiders for this game, but Paris Saint-Germain – for all their star players – have also failed to really make their mark on this tournament in recent years.
Their comeback win against Borussia Dortmund was impressive, but they have pulled off stunning results before only to then fall at the next hurdle.
PSG’s biggest issue will be injuries – Kylian Mbappe is a doubt, while Marco Verratti and Layvin Kurzawa are sidelined and Angel di Maria is suspended.
That leaves a bit of a hole to fill, and while PSG undoubtedly have the talent to fill it, it is less than ideal for the Ligue 1 side.
They go into this game as favourites, but if Atalanta’s forwards can fire in Ilicic’s absence, there could still be a shock on the cards.
PSG are still favourites, however.
PSG are favourites to win this game, and can be backed at evens with 10Bet, Bet365 and Betway. Atalanta should not be written off, however – they are 13/5 to win with 888sport.
PSG may have kept clean sheets in their last two matches, but both teams have an abundance of attacking talent. Both teams to score has been set at 1/2 with Bet365.
Over 2.5 goals, meanwhile, is similar priced at 8/15 with Bet365.
With Ilicic and Mbappe potentially both missing out, Neymar is 11/10 to score at any time for PSG with Bet365 and Betway and Duvan Zapata is a best price of 7/4 with 888sport for Atalanta.
Paris Saint-Germain are favourites for this game, but it would be dangerous to write Atalanta off – nevertheless the French side have the depth to cover their absences.
Josip Ilicic will miss out due to personal reasons, meaning Atalanta will be without their top striker. He also did not play the last five matches of the Serie A season though, and Duvan Zapata could continue up front in his absence. Pierluigi Gollini suffered a knee injury on the final day of the season, meanwhile, and the goalkeeper will also miss out – Marco Sportiello replacing him.
Luis Muriel – The Colombian striker can lead the attack in Ilicic’s absence, hitting 19 goals in all competitions this season.
Duvan Zapata – Most recently netted against Milan to continue his own fine goalscoring season, though he has only netted once this season.
Papu Gomez – The other part of Atalanta’s attacking triumvirate, he has racked up an incredible number of assists this season.
Atalanta’s 19-game unbeaten run was ended by Inter Milan last time out, as they finished the Serie A season with a 2-0 defeat. They had previously beaten Parma 2-1, with Ruslan Malinovskiy and Papu Gomez scoring as the visitors came from behind to win.
Kylian Mbappe is a doubt with an ankle injury, while Angel di Maria is suspended. Edinson Cavani and Thomas Meunier have already left the club, meanwhile, and with Marco Verratti and Layvin Kurzawa sidelined too, Thomas Tuchel has some thinking to do. Ander Herrera or Pablo Sarabia could slot into the front three, playing alongside Neymar and Mauro Icardi. Thilo Kehrer could replace Kurzawa, as he did from the bench last time out.
Neymar – Needs to step up for PSG with Mbappe absent, and the Brazilian icon goes into this game having scored PSG’s most recent goal.
Mauro Icardi – Scored 20 goals in all competitions, including five in this competitions, in a successful first season in Paris.
Thiago Silva – The experienced captain and centre-back leads PSG’s defence – which has kept back-to-back clean sheets in their two cup finals – against Atalanta’s free-scoring front line.
With the Ligue 1 season not restarting unlike the other elite leagues, Paris Saint-Germain have only played two competitive games since lockdown. In the Coupe de France Final, Neymar scored the only goal in a 1-0 win against St Etienne, while it took penalties to see off Lyon after a goalless draw.
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