As Gian Piero Gasperini’s Atalanta prepare to face Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal in the first round of Champions League fixtures on Thursday night, here are three key battles to keep an eye on when the teams kick off at 20.00 BST.
Ademola Lookman vs Benjamin White
Ademola Lookman is back in the mix for Atalanta after a summer of transfer speculation, and celebrated his return to Gasperini’s starting line-up with a goal and a world class assist during the entertaining 3-2 win over Fiorentina in Serie A over the weekend.
The Ballon d’Or candidate is one of several Atalanta players with Premier League experience and will likely find himself up against Arsenal right-back Benjamin White in offensive phases.
White has established himself as one of the Premier League’s most solid right-backs, but is also appreciated for his involvement in the build-up and attacking phases, often drifting into midfield or further forwards on the right wing. If La Dea can tempt him forwards, there could be more space for Lookman to do the business on the counter-attack.
Thursday’s reports indicate that summer signing Raoul Bellanova is set to start at right wing-back for Atalanta, which means that he is most likely going to be up against Gabriel Martinelli on the Arsenal’s left.
Both are of a similar age, have pace in abundance, and will look to exploit the space left behind if one finds themself out of position.
There will also be an intriguing battle on the opposite flank, but it remains to be seen whether England international Bukayo Saka is given the nod from the off. Leandro Trossard or Raheem Sterling are the most likely candidates to step in. Davide Zappacosta is favoured over Matteo Ruggeri on Atalanta’s left flank, according to Thursday morning’s reports.
With no Martin Odegaard, Kai Havertz is in line to start in an attacking midfield role for Arsenal. He will most likely be met by the double pivot of Ederson and Marten De Roon.
The Dea duo will work in tandem to leave as little space to play as possible in the middle of the park. The Brazilian in particular was excellent the last time he went up against Premier League opposition, helping Atalanta to a 3-1 aggregate victory over Liverpool back in April.
Havertz, meanwhile, has come up with two goals and an assist from his first four league matches of the season, but those have come from his de-facto striker role. Expected to start in the position he grew up playing, effectively a trequartista, it will be interesting to see how he does against the resilient Atalanta pair.
