Atalanta vs. Bayer Leverkusen 3/10/22 UEFA Europa League Soccer Pick, Predictions, and Odds

Atalanta is welcoming Bayer Leverkusen to Gewiss Stadium in the first leg of Round of 16 in the UEFA Europa League. Atalanta has been very inconsistent on both ends this season, and their entire season has been one big question mark so far. Leverkusen has tied with Bayern this past weekend, but they are in great form as of late, and they are scoring a ton of goals.

Atalanta has won 2 games in a row just a few weeks ago, they have scored goals, but then they were shot out against Roma this past weekend. At the moment, Atalanta has 47 points, they have scored 50 goals, while they have conceded 31 goals, and they are in 5^th place in the Serie A standings. In the Europa League, Atalanta has gotten here through the playoffs after they were knocked out of the Champions League, and they have beaten Olympiacos in their playoff game. Malinovskyi and Djimsiti have each scored 2 goals for Atalanta, while Maehle has added 1 goal. Atalanta has a lot of offensive firepower, which has been put away somewhere for this season, but I’m still hopeful Atalanta can show us what they are made off.

Leverkusen has been in excellent form lately, they have lost only 1 of their last 8 games, while they were also able to steal some points from Bayern in Bundesliga this past weekend. Leverkusen was being dominated in that game, but there were able to keep Bayern at bay, and the final score was 1-1. In the Europa League, Andrich, Wirtz, and Diaby have each scored 3 goals for Leverkusen, and Diaby has been one of their best players this season. as far as the Europa League goes, Leverkusen is definitely good enough to win this competition, and even though their defense is nothing to be scared of, their offense is. Once Schick gets healthy, Leverkusen will have all of their best players available for games, and that should happen pretty soon.

This is the matchup where everyone is expecting goals, including the bookies. I personally might stay away from this game because of Atalanta’s inconsistency problems, but if I were to bet this, I would bet on goals.