Manchester City vs Atalanta
The return of a number of mainstay players accompany Man City’s third week schedule. In this match they acted as host to host Atalanta in Group C. The clash was held at City of Manchester Stadium as La Dea’s first visit.
So far Pep Guardiola’s squad have managed to look impressive by sweeping all matches in the first two weeks, namely against Shakhtar Donetsk (0-3) and Dinamo Zagreb (2-0). They also have risen from adversity when they lost to Wolves in the 8th week of the EPL by beating Crystal Palace 0-2 last Saturday (19/10). So, the atmosphere of the dressing room has returned conducive.
On the enemy side, Atalanta became the last Group C participant who has not reaped numbers until today. They opened the campaign with a defeat at the headquarters of Dinamo Zagreb (4-0), then lost again when entertaining Shakhtar Donetsk (1-2) as host. They also just had a heavy party on Saturday (19/10) yesterday with a 3-3 draw at home to Lazio.
The condition is worsened by the absence of Duvan Zapata after suffering an injury last weekend, while Josip Illicic and Simo Kjar who were saved when it seemed to be playing from the start.
The Citizen himself is happy with the return of John Stones from injury, even entered the bench last weekend. Kevin de Bruyne and Benjamin Mendy are also reported to have recovered, leaving Leroy Sane and Aymeric Laporte in the treatment room. Furthermore, Riyad Mahrez and Sergio Aguero could appear fresher after only observing the match yesterday as a substitute.
The return of a number of players above clearly makes Man City increasingly favored. They have proven it in the opening two weeks by scoring 5 goals and 2 clean sheets, while Atalanta will likely continue to languish in the caretaker position after only scoring 1 goal and conceding 6 times.
Our Prediction: 1
Odds: 1.74