Manchester City vs Atalanta 23/10/19

23 October 2019

Comfortably sitting top of Group C, Manchester City will be looking to inflict a third defeat on rock-bottom Atalanta when the two sides meet in the UEFA Champions League (CL) at the Etihad Stadium this week.

The hosts are the only team in this section to pick up all six points from their first two matches. They’ve done it by scoring 2+ goals per CL fixture and preventing their opponents from finding the net on both occasions. In fact, seven of City’s nine wins in all competitions this season have seen them beat their rivals ‘to nil’ while all nine witnessed them net at least two goals. Once again big pre-match favorites, the Citizens will be aiming to extend their winning home streak in Europe’s most prestigious club competition to six consecutive games. A rampant Pep Guardiola’s side has netted 22 goals in their last six CL home matches on an intimidating average of 3.66 goals scored per CL home fixture.

Meanwhile, the CL debutants will face an uphill task of erasing the memory of their opening two matches in the competition (L2). Both of Atalanta’s CL defeats have seen them concede at least two goals and score one or less. La Dea’s poor defending this season can’t be overlooked ahead of their trip to the Etihad, as they’ve failed to keep a clean sheet in nine of ten games in all competitions so far, allowing 2+ match goals six times in the process. But, Gian Piero Gasperini must be pleased to know his side has hit a free-scoring form recently, netting over 1.5 match goals in five of their last six competitive outings. Apart from the goalscoring output, the traveling team can also be encouraged by the fact that Atalanta have lost just twice in their last eight trips to England (W3, D3, L2).