Visiting Anfield is feared by most, and for good reason. Liverpool become real beasts at home. They’re currently unbeaten in 25 games at home this season, claiming victory on 22 of those occasions.

This has been evident throughout their Europa League campaign, with the Reds scoring 17 goals in their four home matches up to this point, winning all of them.

Liverpool are the masters of creating chances this season and they’re relentless when it comes to picking up wins when they need them. Of the 17 times they have hosted an Italian side at home in Europe, Liverpool have won ten, drawn one and lost the other six.

With only one loss in their last 13 across all competitions and ten wins in that period, Liverpool certainly have the firepower to get past Atalanta here.

Atalanta have continued to challenge the biggest clubs in Italy this season, and if it wasn’t for a miraculous season for Bologna, they’d certainly be eyeing up that final Champions League spot.

However they come into perhaps the toughest matchup possible in the competition off the back of two consecutive defeats. Atalanta’s form has been pretty up and down in recent weeks, with only two wins from their last nine (W2 D3 L4).

This slump in form is something you just cannot take to Anfield and expect to come out with a result. With Liverpool firmly in the hunt for silverware and playing with such fluidity, it’s hard to see the Italian underdogs getting a result here.

Liverpool have scored 15 goals across their last five across all competitions. They also dispatched Sparta Prague in the RO16 to an aggregate score of 11-2 and it seems that goals follow the Reds wherever they go.

This is also the case regarding Liverpool’s defence. The hosts are without a clean sheet in seven matches across all competitions and have only kept one clean sheet in their last 13 games at Anfield.

The Reds have shown some big defensive vulnerabilities, particularly against Manchester United as of late, which can certainly be exploited in this clash. In fact, both teams have scored in 71% of Liverpool’s top-flight matches this season.

Atalanta have blanked on only five occasions across all competitions this season and none of those came during their Europa League journey. The Italian side are averaging 1.83 goals for a game and have scored in six of their last eight away matches, including a blank against ever-dominant Inter.

Three or more goals have been witnessed in four of Atalanta’s last five games and in all of Liverpool’s last five, and this matchup should spark some more drama.

Luis Diaz has been one of Liverpool’s most consistent attacking options this season, netting his 11th goal of the season against Manchester United last weekend. The Colombian international has found great joy in this competition so far, scoring three goals in his five appearances, and his recent performances indicate he’s worth a look in the shots markets.

Diaz’s trigger-happy instincts are evident in his impressive average of 3.42 shots per 90 this season, and 1.11 shots on target to the same measure. However, the latter figure perhaps doesn’t represent his recent performances.

Diaz has hit the target twice in three of his last four games for Liverpool and he had three shots in the exception. In this time, he’s had 17 attempts at goal and scored twice in the process.

We can’t cover the Liverpool front three without mentioning Mohamed Salah who seems to be inevitable in crucial fixtures.

Salah has hit the target on 2+ occasions in five consecutive matches, picking up four goals and three assists. Despite only playing 290 minutes in the Europa League, out of a total 720, he has four goals and four assists in the competition, hitting the target in six of his seven appearances.

The Egyptian king has racked up a 1.14 xG+A per 90 so far this season and will certainly be the player to look to for a goal involvement tonight.

Moving onto Atalanta, Gianluca Scamacca is in very good form, scoring four goals in his last six games for the club. The former West Ham striker has also found success in this year’s European campaign, scoring 3 goals in six appearances, despite playing just 333 minutes.

Scamacca is averaging a respectable 1.65 shots on target per 90 this season and has hit the target in six consecutive matches, including twice in both legs against Sporting Lisbon.

Considering his purple patch of form, Scamacca can certainly cause Liverpool some headaches, and his price to test the Reds’ keeper on one or more times represents value.

Atalanta have proved themselves as masters of the dark arts in recent weeks, racking up some pretty high fouls totals. With Liverpool expected to dominate most of the ball on Thursday night and their killer counting-attacking football, the visitors are likely to be involved in a fair few scraps.

Atalanta are averaging 12.80 fouls per 90 across all competitions this season. Atalanta have committed 13+ fouls in 9 of their last 12 matches and have committed 40 fouls in their last two games alone.

They showed no mercy to Sporting, in the last round, either, making 18 fouls in the away leg and 15 at home. Liverpool have drawn 11.90 fouls per 90 this season.

Atalanta have committed fewer than 10 fouls on only four occasions across all competitions this season and are averaging 14.88 fouls per 90 in the Europa League this season across their eight outings so far.