RB Leipzig and Atalanta expected to produce tight first leg

RB Leipzig vs Atalanta Bergamo - 07/04/2022

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The UEFA Europa League quarter-finals get underway this Thursday. In the early kick-off, RB Leipzig welcome Atalanta to Red Bull Arena for the first leg of their clash.

Last month, Atalanta claimed a 4-2 aggregate victory over Bayer Leverkusen to book their spot in the last eight.

Meanwhile, RB Leipzig were given a bye to the quarter-finals after their scheduled tie against Spartak Moscow was cancelled due to the Russian club’s expulsion from the competition.

The Red Bulls started the season in the Champions League but dropped down into the Europa League after winning just two of their six UCL group games.

That said, they managed to hold Paris Saint-Germain to a draw before beating Manchester City on Matchday 6.

In the Bundesliga, Leipzig are currently enjoying a seven-game unbeaten streak after crushing Borussia Dortmund 4-1 at the weekend.

When you look at the bigger picture, the Red Bulls have lost just one of their previous 11 league outings – picking up eight wins and two draws along the way.

As for Atalanta, they also began the campaign in the Champions League but managed to win just one of their six group matches.

They went on to thrash Greek side Olympiacos in the Europa League play-offs before getting the better of Bayer Leverkusen in the previous round.

Atalanta were beaten 3-1 by Napoli last time out, meaning they find themselves seven in the Serie A – eight points outside the top four.

In truth, their best chance of qualifying for next season’s Champions League is by winning the Europa League.

Head-to-head: This is the first competitive meetings between Leipzig and Atalanta. That means we have no previous results to assess for this fixture.

Team news: The Red Bulls look set to be without the injured duo of Amadou Haidara and Yussuf Poulsen on Thursday.

Christoppher Nkunku is Leipzig’s danger man, having bagged 27 goals and 17 assists in 40 games across all competitions this term.

On the flip side, Atalanta have a host of absentees – including Josip Ilicic, Rafael Toloi, Merih Demiral and Bryan Cabezas.

With so much at stake, Leipzig and Atalanta are expected to approach the first leg with caution. For that reason, we aren’t likely to see many goals.

Forebet predicts that RB Leipzig and Atalanta will dish up a low-scoring draw on Thursday.

Home team
Away team

Probability %

1X2

Pred

Correct score

Avg. goals

Weather conditions

Coef.

Score

Live
coef.

UEL

RB Leipzig Atalanta Bergamo 07/04/2022 18:45

294031

X

0 - 0

1.88

11°

3.60

1.80 3.60 4.50 no no no

FT

1 - 1(0 - 1)

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