Atalanta vs Everton Preview

With Manchester United competing in the Champions League this season, there is a need for a new winner of the Europa League and these two teams will be looking to get ahead of the other in this opener.

Group E is a tough group with Lyon, Atalanta and Everton competing with Apollon for two places in the elimination round.

Everton are the only team among this duo to win a European cup and their manager, the 1985 cup winners cup Ronald Koeman will be hoping to bring another trophy to the blue half of Merseyside.

Atalanta have not played a European game since the 1990/1991 season – they lost their last European game to Inter Milan and they will be looking to get back with a win this game.

Everton won one and drew the other in their two away games in Europe this season.  Their 1-1 draw at Hajduk Split shows that they can still be beaten or at least held back when they play away from home and Atalanta could be that team to humble them in Europe this season.

Everton can benefit from Atalanta’s reluctance to play defensively as the Italians prefer to outscore opponents.

This style of play will give Everton a good chance away from home.

Results of each team’s last 5 matches across all leagues and competitions

Atalanta

LAST FIVE GAMES						DATE	COMPETITION
L	Napoli		3-1		Atalanta	Aug 27, 2017	Italian Serie A
L	Atalanta		0-1		AS Roma	Aug 20, 2017	Italian Serie A
W	Borussia Dortmund		0-1		Atalanta	Aug 1, 2017	Friendly
W	Atalanta		1-0		Chievo Verona	May 27, 2017	Italian Serie A
W	Empoli		0-1		Atalanta	May 21, 2017	Italian Serie A

Everton 

LAST FIVE GAMES						DATE	COMPETITION
L	Chelsea		2-0		Everton	Aug 27, 2017	English Premier League
D	Hajduk Split		1-1		Everton	Aug 24, 2017	UEFA Europa League
D	Manchester City		1-1		Everton	Aug 21, 2017	English Premier League
W	Everton		2-0		Hajduk Split	Aug 17, 2017	UEFA Europa League
W	Everton		1-0		Stoke City	Aug 12, 2017	English Premier League