Sporting CP vs Atalanta prediction: EUROPE: Europa League – Group Stage betting tips on match 2023-10-04 16:45.
Sporting Lisbon and Atalanta got off to a winning start against Sturm Graz and Raków Częstochowa respectively in Group D of the 2023/24 UEFA Europa League (UEL), with the Portuguese giants now looking to build upon that and end a five-game winless run in continental home matches. Whilst that sounds discouraging at first, manager Rúben Amorim can take confidence from draws against high-profile clubs Arsenal and Juventus in the two most recent encounters of that five-game stretch.
Domestically, Sporting began their league campaign in formidable fashion, topping the Primeira Liga table by replicating the seven-game start (W6, D1) of their title-winning campaign in 2020/21. When coupled with their matchday one UEL victory, it’s a solid foundation from which to potentially end another notable five-game winless run – this time in continental football against Italian opposition (D2, L3) – which most recently includes Juventus eliminating them from the quarter-finals of last season’s UEL.
Gian Piero Gasperini’s visitors should be brimming with confidence after keeping clean sheets in each of their last four outings. The omens appear promising on the European front as well, as the Bergamo outfit haven’t tasted defeat in any of their last six UEL away trips (W4, D2), scoring 17 times and conceding just twice in the process, albeit one of those matches being an 8-0 qualifying round thumping of Sarajevo!
Atalanta’s recent powers of recovery in Europe have been hugely impressive, as they’ve interestingly won three of the last four encounters in which they conceded the first goal. Despite the squad undergoing significant change in the last couple of years, Gasperini has remained, and is the fourth longest-serving boss in this season’s UEL group stage, with the chance to win an incredible 175th game in charge here since taking the job in the summer of 2016.
Players to watch: Viktor Gyökeres, a summer signing from Coventry City, is in sensational form for Sporting, scoring four times in his last three appearances, with three of those efforts coming after the hour mark. On the contrary, both of Atalanta’s Teun Koopmeiners’ strikes this term have come away from home and within the opening 20 minutes.
Hot stat: Six of the seven goals conceded by Sporting this season after the 50th minute.