The primary week of Champions League soccer involves an finish on Thursday evening with the Europa League champions Atalanta welcoming Arsenal to Bergamo within the midst of a pivotal week for the Gunners. Having floor out victory at Tottenham on Sunday, Mikel Arteta’s aspect start their European marketing campaign with half a watch on Sunday and their go to to Manchester Metropolis.

That’s not to say they’ll take Atalanta flippantly. Gianpiero Gasperini’s aspect have been a little bit sluggish out of the blocks within the early rounds of Serie A video games however an exhilarating win over Fiorentina — 5 objectives scored, all within the first half — was a reminder of the risk they’ll pose. Even high-level defenses could be examined, however will that embrace an Arsenal one that may simply be the very best within the enterprise? We are going to discover out on Thursday.

Viewing info

• Date: Thursday, Sept. 19 | Time: 3 p.m. ET
• Location: Gewiss Stadium — Bergamo, Italy
• Stay stream: Paramount+
• Odds: Atalanta +320; Draw +270; Arsenal -118

League section schedule

Atalanta: Arsenal (h), Shakhtar Donetsk (a), Celtic (h), Stuttgart (a), Younger Boys (a), Actual Madrid (h), Sturm Graz (h), Barcelona (a)

Arsenal: Atalanta (a), Paris Saint-Germain (h), Shakhtar Donetsk (h), Inter (a), Sporting (a), Monaco (h), Dinamo Zagreb (h), Girona (a)

Staff information

Atalanta: A couple of points in protection have cropped up as Gasperini readies his aspect for a return to the Champions League for the primary time in three years, Rafael Toloi out with a thigh situation and Ben Godfrey scuffling with a again situation that has restricted his availability since he first arrived from Everton. Additional ahead there are many choices to select from in what’s going to probably be an attacking show.

Doable Atalanta XI: Carnesecchi; De Roon, Hien, Kolasinac; Bellanova, Pasalic, Ederson, Ruggeri; Lookman, De Ketelaere; Retegui 

Arsenal: The damage disaster in north London isn’t significantly easing. Riccardo Calafiori was in coaching on Tuesday after withdrawing from the derby late on however there was no signal of Takehiro Tomiyasu, Kieran Tierney, Mikel Merino or Oleksandr Zinchenko. Most importantly of all Martin Odegaard’s ankle situation seems more likely to sideline him for a while but. “After latest scans, the scans confirmed that he is received some injury, particularly on one of many ligaments within the ankle,” mentioned Arteta. “It is one thing fairly vital so we will lose him for some time.” Arsenal’s hope is that that timescale doesn’t run into months plural.

Then there may be the query of whether or not any changes must be made with a view to Sunday’s journey to Manchester Metropolis. Can both or each of Thomas Partey and Jorginho make three begins in every week? If not, will the one who begins on Thursday discover themselves on the bench for what will likely be a vital conflict within the battle for the Premier League title?

Doable Arsenal XI: Raya; White, Saliba, Gabriel, Timber; Jorginho, Havertz, Rice; Saka, Trossard, Martinelli

Prediction

Arsenal nonetheless appear to have some points — maybe overstated — towards high-grade European opposition and that will proceed in Italy. PICK: Atalanta 2, Arsenal 2