- Team form: Atalanta have won three of their last five games and come into this on the back of consecutive wins against FC Schalke 04 and Athletic Bilbao.
- Home stats: Atalanta have scored 1.2 goals per game on average at home across all competitions, so they are likely to build up pressure for a while before breaking through.
- Away threat: Hapoel Tel-Aviv have scored 10 times in their last five away matches across all competitions, so the away side can surely hurt La Dea on the counterattack when gaps do appear.
Atalanta to start on the right foot
La Dea look a little overvalued for Thursday's UEFA Conference League qualification play-off tie against Hapoel Tel-Aviv. They are 1.19 favourites against The Reds, who are priced around 4x that for the clash at New Balance Arena.
Maurizio Sarri's men are coming into this one in great form after back-to-back wins against FC Schalke 04 and Athletic Bilbao that were emphatic statements of intent. They beat the Germans 0-3 away from home before recording a 1-0 victory over the Spanish side at their own ground.
Atalanta have now won three of their last five matches. They have four wins, two draws and four defeats across their last ten overall, so La Dea are a steady, but not dominant side with room for improvement.
La Dea have more spark up front
Key players
Nikola Krstovic has been their spark in the forward line with three goals in their last five, but Hapoel will be wary of Emmanuel Boateng. The Ghanaian has scored two goals in this season's UEFA Conference League Qualification 2026.
Tactical outlook
A more likely route to a goal is a swift transition from Hapoel's compact 4-2-3-1, which Elyaniv Barda's men have relied upon to screen the backline and hit on the break. Hapoel are more of a one-trick pony, but Atalanta are more potent up top so it will be interesting to see if Sarri's new possession-based system can meet Barda's blueprint of counter-punching.
Hapoel can keep it tight
The market is obviously on goals for La Dea as the Over 2.5 goals option is coming in at 1.45 and Both Teams To Score – Yes is also under 2 to 1 at 2.1, while BTTS – No is still shorter at 1.65.
We like the visitors to keep this a tighter game than the odds suggest because of their direct style of play, but Atalanta are the clearer team to win on the night.
- Hapoel have been much more competitive lately with three wins, one draw and one defeat from their last five.
- However, they have one win, two draws and two defeats from five away across all competitions, so they travel well but don't tend to dominate teams.
- Atalanta have two wins, one draw and two defeats from their five home matches across all competitions, so La Dea are solid rather than dominant at home.
