Manchester City vs Atalanta UEFA Champions League Matchday 3 Odds, Picks & Betting Preview

• Manchester City are leading Group C with six points
• Atalanta have struggled so far with two losses, sitting fourth in the group
• See the odds for Man City vs Atalanta for their Champions League match next Tuesday

Atalanta’s Champions League dream has turned into something of a nightmare and things get no easier for them on Matchday 3 on Tuesday, October 22, at 3:00 pm EST as they visit Manchester City – EPL champions and the current leaders of Group C with a 100-percent record.

Typically, City are hot favorites but we’ll have a look to see if there is any value to be had.

UEFA Champions League – Manchester City vs Atalanta Odds

All odds taken on October 17, 2019

This one is a foregone conclusion according to oddsmakers. The stats lean heavily towards a comfortable home win with the visitor’s pointless and Man City yet to drop a point. But soccer being soccer, nothing is ever a given and we only have to look back a few weeks to find Club Brugge going within a whisker of beating Real Madrid in the Bernabeu. Upsets do happen and the Champions League has its fair share.

Equally, Pep Guardiola’s City look imperious right now and two wins from two with no goals conceded has put them in command of the group.

Light Work for City in the Ukraine

City made light work of what looked certain to be a tough opener in Ukraine when they demolished Shakhtar Donetsk 3-0. First-half goals from Riyad Mahrez and lkay Gündoğan set the tone perfectly for a dominant City display, which was rounded off in the second period with another from Gabriel Jesus.

It was the perfect start for Pep Guardiola and his team who now see the Champions League trophy as their Holy Grail. A club that has been transformed over the last decade under the ownership of Sheikh Mansour and which now see the EPL title as their’s to lose has, to date, made little impression on Europe’s elite premier club competition.

This will have been deemed as a failure by the owners who have spent billions on the club’s revival and so make no mistake, Guardiola is under pressure to deliver a Champions League trophy.

All Eyes on Champions League at Etihad

After two successive EPL titles, City have made a faltering start to this campaign – losing twice in their opening eight games – and so with Liverpool already eight points clear, all eyes in Manchester and beyond will turn to the Champions League, wondering if this will finally be the season.

Perversely, their slow start to this season’s EPL may enhance their chances of adding the Champions League to their burgeoning trophy cabinet, all adding to the enormous task that awaits Atalanta.

City’s second game proved a tougher one than their opener and Dinamo Zagreb’s dogged defensive display made for a tough night at the Etihad, but a second-half strike from Raheem Sterling and an injury-time clincher from youngster Phil Foden sealed the deal. Atalanta will need to be equally dogged and more if they are to get anything from this game.

Tough Baptism in Zagreb

The Italians’ journey so far has been a tough one and not what they would have hoped for from their first-ever venture into this competition. A tricky looking opener in Zagreb quickly turned into a nightmare when they fell behind to a Marin Leovac goal after just ten minutes. They never recovered. Mislav Oršić then added to the Italians’ woes with a hat-trick, leaving them with no points and some red faces.

Atalanta’s first home game in the competition – they are playing their home games in Milan’s San Siro stadium – was against Shakhtar Donetsk and produced a much-improved performance but still no points.

They took a 28th-minute lead through Duvan Zapata before the visitors levelled just before halftime, but looked set to earn their first point until conceding a heart-breaking 95th-minute winner from Zagreb’s Manor Solomon.

It was a tough one to take for the Orobici I Nerazzurri but they took much from the performance having delivered their first solid 90-minutes in the Champions League. They will need all of that and more at the Etihad.

Banana Skin for City?

For City, this is very much one they see as a banana skin and Guardiola will leave no stone unturned as his team looks to make it three from three. Complacency won’t be an issue here, although City’s coach will be keen to see his team turn in a sound defensive display after some recent indifferent ones in the Premier League.

Atalanta won’t be committing too many numbers forward, knowing that to do so risks them getting picked off by City on the break. But they have form on their side and have lost just a single game in Serie A so far this season, where they are the division’s leading scorers.

For City’s part, their confidence in the EPL has been affected by their indifferent form, so an early goal for Atalanta would make for an interesting evening. Let’s not underestimate the Italians – after that awful start they may just be finding their feet.

My pick: Man City and Atalanta to draw (+580)