Atalanta v Liverpool: Back goals and cards in Bergamo
Atalanta host Liverpool in the Champions League on Tuesday in a 8pm kick-off at the Gewiss Stadium.
It looks set to be a tantalising match, with both sides stacked with bundles of attacking talent but perhaps less so at the back, especially with Virgil van Dijk out injured for the visitors for the foreseeable future.
Goals are where I’m starting with the bet: seven out of Atalanta’s last eight league matches have seen Both Teams To Score and Over 2 Goals land, with nine of Liverpool’s last 10 in the Premier League doing likewise. This is priced at 8/15 with bet365 so I’m adding it to a Bet Builder as a solid starting point.
Romanian referee Ovidiu Hategan takes charge of this one and he has shown both sides one or more yellow card in 17 of his last 20 matches in European competitions. He has averaged 3.93 yellow cards per game in his 29 Champions League matches, so with both sides carrying plenty of counter-attacking threat I’m more than happy to back both teams to pick up a card each and over two cards in the match for total odds of 23/20.
With cards in mind, there are a few Atalanta players who appeal. Their back three are likely to be caught by the pace of Liverpool’s front-line and all are prone to picking up cards. Berat Djimsiti was carded three times in this competition last season as well as against Ajax in their last match, so looks a great price at 4/1 with various bookmakers.
I couldn’t put you off Rafael Toloi at 23/10 (various) or Cristian Romero at 19/10 (Bet Victor) either, with both defenders reaching double figures for yellow cards in Serie A last season.
Remo Freuler also looks a good price at 10/3 (Sky Bet) given he will be playing holding midfield in the absence of Martin de Roon and was also carded three times in this competition last season. I also like him to make 3+ tackles at 6/5 with bet365. It’s landed in both of Atalanta’s CL matches this season and he made six tackles in their last league match.
Another bet which looks good in the bet365 stats market is Alejandro Gomez to have a shot on target at 8/13. He’s had one in every Atalanta match this season, actually testing the opposition goalkeeper twice in four of his side’s six league matches.
