Atalanta vs Marseille Prediction: Expect Goals in the Stadio Atleti Azzurri d’Italia

Whilst one Europa League semi-final looks all but done after the first leg, this one is very much up for grabs as the two sides played to a 1-1 draw in France last week. They go to Italy for the return game with everything still to play for.

Our Serie A expert Daniele Fisichella got the call for this one and he bring us his best Atalanta vs Marseille predictions for this match, set for a 20:00 kick-off on Thursday evening on TNT Sports 3...

It’s all to play for in Bergamo after that an entertaining, end-to-end, first leg in the south of France left the qualification very much open.

Atalanta are dreaming to reach their first ever continental final, whereas Marseille have the opportunity to save a difficult season which saw them sacking two managers.

Given Jean-Louis Gasset’s men strong record at the ‘Velodrome’, Atalanta would probably feel the happiest of the two sides after the 1-1 draw.

However, after conceding the first goal, OM showed a great character and initiative which helped them to equalise in the first half as well as collecting a couple of good chances to take the lead.

The French side, who also had a goal chopped off by VAR in the second half, will be more rested than the hosts.

In fact Olympique Marseille did not play at the weekend as the 5th of May is dedicated to the commemoration of the victims of the Stade Armand-Cesari disaster, in 1992, when 18 people lost their lives on the terraces.

Atalanta were in action on Monday and had to exsert themselves to come out with three points from the ground of the already relegated Salernitana.

A not so comfortable victory for Giampiero Gasperini’s men but a win nonetheless that saw them climbing above Roma in fifth spot in Serie A.

The Orobici have peaked at the right time of the season, having won five of the last eight games, and will be confident in light of their recent Coppa Italia semi-final success against Fiorentina.

But to get the better out of a team, Olympique Marseille, that has played its best football in Europe they’ll need to keep emotions at bay, manage the game and resist the temptation of going gun-ho.

The visitors have a poor away record in Europe as they’ve only won one out of their six games on the road, but, despite their inconsistent results, OM have scored at least once in each of the previous seven games.

Plus, never underestimate a side that has among their ranks Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, the competition’s current (10 goals) and all-time goalscorer (31 in total), whose quick accelerations can change the game in a flash.

Team News:

Sead Kolasinac will not be involved in the match, having suffered an hamstring injury of his left thigh in the first half of the first leg. The hosts will also be without Holm, but Toloi might make a last minute recovery. De Roon will probably start as one of the three centre-backs, with Pasalic slotting into midfield.

Olympique’s left back Quentin Merlin did not start a week ago, but should be in the starting XI in Bergamo. Iliman Ndiaye is a candidate to replace Luis Henrique.

Atalanta vs Marseille Odds

*Please click on the link above to be taken to the main Atalanta vs Marseille market page on betfred.com (or app) for all the live betting prices on this match.

Atalanta are the favourite (8/11) to win in the 90 minutes and qualify for the final in Dublin of 22 May.

The Bergamaschi have only lost one game in the Europa League (1-0 against Liverpool) and have achieved qualification in four of the previous five occasion when they avoided defeat in the first leg.

The draw (odds 11/4) will see the tie going into extra-time. Olympique Marseille have drawn all their last three away games against Serie A teams, and are winless in the last eight trips to Italy.

The French side have played three times in the UEFA Cup/Europa League final, always finishing runners-up in the competition.

OM have qualified in each of the last nine European ties when they avoided defeat in the first leg.

Despite that the odds are very high (18/5) for the victory of Gasset’s men.

Over 2.5 Goals (4/5) pays slightly less than Under 2.5 (10/11). In fact, Atalanta average 1.72 goals per game in this competition whereas Marseille have conceded 11 away goals and kept just one clean sheet (2-0 win in Athens against AEK).

Nine Marseille games and five Atalanta’s European matches have produced more than two goals, but Atalanta have only kept 11 clean sheets in all competitions in front of their crowd.

Both Teams To Score – Yes @ 8/11

Among Serie A teams Atalanta have been, for years, the closest to a Premier League top side in terms of rhythm, intensity and to pursue possession of the ball in the opposition’s half.

In the last two months they’ve played some of their best football and have one of Europe’s most in-form strikers in Gianluca Scamacca.

The former West Ham striker has scored 10 times in all competitions since the beginning of March, only Cole Palmer (12 goals) and Harry Kane (10) have done better than him in Europe’s top five leagues.

The hosts have remained scoreless in just two home games all season, but Marseille will probably be fresher, due to the weekend’s rest, and will fancy their chances after the first leg.

The visitors have netted in six of the last eight away games, whereas Atalanta have only kept one clean sheet in the previous six home games.

Atalanta or Draw and Over 2.5 Goals @ 5/4

The arrival of Jean-Louis Gasset on the bench hasn’t improved OM poor away form. In fact, the French side has only won 3 out 21 fixtures on the road, losing four out of 6 under their third manager of the season.

Based only on their results away from home, Marseille would be penultimate in Ligue 1 as they also got beaten by Brighton, Villarreal and Benfica.

Atalanta have only lost four home games (against Inter, Napoli, Bologna and Liverpool) at home this season and Over 2.5 Goals has been a winning bet in 13 of their domestic matches.

Daniele Fisichella primary covers Italian Football for us at Betfred Insights. You can check out all of his Football Betting Tips, along with those of the other writers here on the site on our main Football page...