Manchester United vs Atalanta

Manchester United and Atalanta go head-to-head at Old Trafford in an intriguing UEFA Champions League Group F fixture.

Rollercoaster affairs have highlighted Manchester United’s opening two Champions League fixtures, with each seeing the side to open the scoring go on to end up on the wrong end of a 2-1 scoreline. A hard-earned 2-1 home triumph over Villarreal in their most recent Champions League outing remains United’s solitary success in five competitive matches (D2, L2), a run that includes an embarrassing 4-2 defeat to Leicester City last time out. With his future at Old Trafford hanging in the balance, under-pressure manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will be looking to fall back on Man United’s return of six wins from their last seven Champions League home meetings with Italian visitors (L1). The Norwegian strategist has lost 58% of his Champions League matches in charge of the ‘Red Devils’ (7/12), and another failure here could spell an end to his tenure at the Theatre of Dreams.

On the other hand, Atalanta eked out a 1-0 home win over Young Boys last time out following a 2-2 away draw with Villarreal in their Champions League curtain-raiser to go alone at the summit. Though it may come as some surprise, ‘La Dea’ are one of only two teams to have played 2+ UEFA-sanctioned matches against English opponents away from home and won over 50% of their games (2/3). Indeed, Gian Piero Gasperini’s men boast a positive historical European record against Premier League clubs (W3, D1, L2). That, coupled with Atalanta’s unbeaten away start to the season (W3, D2 – all competitions included), suggests the Italians mean business. Additionally, the visitors have lost just one of their last seven Champions League away fixtures (W5, D1).