Atalanta vs Sturm Graz Prediction: Hosts to edge entertaining affair

There is an important Europa League Group D encounter taking place at the Gewiss Stadium on Thursday (20:00 KO) with Atalanta taking on Sturm Graz.

Atalanta lead the way in this pool after three games on seven points, three clear of Sporting Lisbon and Sturm Graz in second and third and six ahead of Rakow Czestochowa in fourth.

Victory for either of these two sides in Bergamo on Thursday would boost their qualification hopes and give them sight of reaching the knockout stage of the competition.

Team news

Atalanta head coach Gian Piero Gasperini has no injury worries heading into this contest and the question facing him is whether he will make any changes to the starting XI that lost at home to Inter Milan at the weekend.

Stefan Hierlander was sent off for Sturm Graz in the 2-2 draw against Atalanta on matchday three and he will serve his one-match suspension here, while Otar Kiteishvili, Seedy Jatta and Niklas Geyrhofer are all out injured.

Match Odds

Atalanta are the firm 1/4 favourites to pick up the win on home soil, with the draw priced at 9/2 and Sturm Graz 11/1 outsiders to claim the spoils in Bergamo.

Sturm Graz and Atalanta have scored in each of their three group games and both teams to score in Thursday's meetings is available at EVS, while it's 8/11 that bet doesn't land.

These two played out an entertaining 2-2 draw in the last round of fixtures and it is 22/1 for a repeat of that scoreline.

Atalanta to win and both teams to score @ 15/8

Atalanta have enjoyed a solid start to the season, as they sit fifth in the league and lead their Europa League group, and they were on a three-game unbeaten run across all competitions before suffering a narrow 2-1 defeat to Serie A table-toppers Inter Milan last time out.

La Dea have been impressive at the Gewiss Stadium and they have tasted defeat just once at home this season, that coming against Inter at the weekend.

Before that loss Atalanta had won four and drawn one at home, keeping clean sheets in all of those, and it is hard to go against them when playing in their own backyard.

However, the Italian outfit are unlikely to get everything their own way and Sturm Graz will feel confident they can at least get on the scoresheet, something they did twice in the reverse fixture.

The Austrian side have failed to score in just one of their last 16 competitive matches, while you have to go back to November 2022 for the last time they didn't net away from home.

Gianluca Scamacca to score anytime @ EVS

There are plenty of attacking options for both sides to choose from but one of the best candidates to score looks to be Atalanta striker Gianluca Scamacca, who has made a solid start to life in Bergamo since his summer switch from West Ham.

The Italy international has scored five goals from eight Serie A appearances to lead his side's scoring charts, with three of those coming in his last two appearances.

Scamacca is playing with plenty of confidence in front of goal and the evens available on him to net anytime provides real value.

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