Atalanta vs Liverpool UEFA Champions League Match Preview or Key Statistics 📊
This is Liverpool’s first ever encounter with Atalanta in any competition. Atalanta are set to face their third different English opponent, having previously met Everton in the 2017/18 UEFA Europa League (P2 W2) and Manchester City in the Champions League last season (P2 D1 L1).
Liverpool have lost all three of their away UEFA Champions League matches in Italy under manager Jürgen Klopp, losing to Roma in May 2018 and Napoli in October 2018 and September 2019.
Since losing their first three group stage games in the UEFA Champions League last season, Atalanta have gone unbeaten in their last five group stage games in the competition (W3 D2), including both this season (W1 D1).
Liverpool have won each of their last three away games in the UEFA Champions League group stage, after losing four in a row before this between October 2018 and September 2019 (all under Jürgen Klopp).
Excluding qualifiers, Atalanta have only failed to score in one of their last 19 games in major European competition (0-4 v Dinamo Zagreb last season), while they’ve averaged 2.1 goals per game over the course of this run (40 goals in total).
Jürgen Klopp has lost all five of his away UEFA Champions League matches in Italy, losing to Napoli (3), Juventus and Roma. Only Alex Ferguson (6) has lost more away Champions League games in Italy than Klopp, while only Luciano Spalletti in England (6/6) has managed more away games in a country while losing every match than Klopp in Italy.
Duvan Zapata has been directly involved in six goals in five UEFA Champions League starts for Atalanta (four goals and two assists), while he scored a brace in their 2-2 draw against Ajax on MD2.
Since leaving Basel in January 2014, Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah has played more minutes against Atalanta in all competitions without scoring than any other club (263), with his four games against them coming during his spells at Fiorentina and Roma.
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Diogo Jota scored on his first UEFA Champions League start for Liverpool in their last game (2-0 v FC Midtjylland), while he could become only the second player to score in his first two starts in the competition for the Reds, following Robbie Keane back in 2008.
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