Arsenal will start their 2024/25 Champions League campaign against Atalanta later this week, and it’s live on talkSPORT.

The Gunners were beaten by Bayern Munich in the quarter-finals last year and will be looking to go further this time.

Arsenal are in good place heading into the Champions LeagueGetty

Mikel Arteta‘s side have made a strong start to their league campaign, taking ten points from their first four games, including a 1-0 win over Tottenham in the north London derby.

However, there are concerns over the fitness of Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard for this encounter – with the latter not able to play a single minute against Spurs.

Meanwhile, Atalanta have a place among Europe’s elite this year after winning the Europa League last season.

Ademola Lookman scored a hat-trick in the final to ensure the Italian side beat Bayer Leverkusen 3-0.

Arsenal vs Atalanta: Gigantic Gabriel

Arsenal defender Gabriel Magalhaes is fulfilling his potential to become one of the Premier League’s best centre-backs.

The Brazilian international – an arrival from Lille in 2020 – has formed a great partnership with William Saliba in recent seasons.

Of course, the Frenchman gets the majority of the praise, but Gabriel is also crucial to the Arsenal defence.

He provides balance on the left, while he is extremely aggressive when defending and also pops up with some crucial goals.

And as if to demonstrate that point, Gabriel scored the winner against Tottenham at the weekend to further cement his place as a firm fans’ favourite.

Not only is he now the top-scoring Brazilian defender in Premier League history, the 26-year-old also tops the list of defenders with the most top-flight goals since the 2020/21 season.

Gabriel is a monster at the back

Atalanta have never previously faced Arsenal in any competition. The Gunners will be the fifth English side they have met in major European competition, after Everton (W2), Man City (D1 L1), Liverpool (W2 L2) and Man Utd (D1 L1).

Arsenal have lost their last three away UEFA Champions League games in Italy, although this is their first trip there since 2013. Those defeats came at Roma (0-1 in 2009), Milan (0-4 in 2012) and Napoli (0-2 in 2013).

Atalanta’s last four UEFA Champions League games – all in the 2021-22 group stage – have seen both them and their opponents score two or more goals (D2 L2). In the entire history of the European Cup, no side has ever both scored and conceded 2+ goals in five consecutive matches.

Atalanta vs Arsenal: Date and how to follow

This Champions League game is set to take place on Thursday, September 19.

Kick-off at the Gewiss Stadium is scheduled for 9pm local time, which is 8pm UK time.

talkSPORT will have live coverage from Italy, with Hugh Woozencroft serving as your presenter.

Commentary will then come from Joe Shennan and former England striker Darren Bent.

talkSPORT.com will have all the action in our dedicated Champions League blog.

To tune in to talkSPORT through the website, click HERE for the live stream.

You can also listen via the talkSPORT app, on DAB digital radio, through your smart speaker and on 1089 or 1053 AM.

Lookman’s hat-trick made him an overnight legend

Arsenal have won their opening match in each of their last six major European campaigns (five in UEFA Europa League and last season’s Champions League). The last side to beat the Gunners in their first game was Dinamo Zagreb in the 2015-16 Champions League.

The 2023/24 UEFA Europa League final – won 3-0 by his side – was Gian Piero Gasperini’s 50th game in charge of Atalanta in major European competition (excluding qualifiers). Gasperini has won just under half of those (48%), with 24 victories from 50 matches (D14 L12).

Only Atlético Madrid (+6.16) overperformed their xG total by a higher figure than Arsenal in last season’s UEFA Champions League (+5.49 – 19 goals from an xG of 13.51), while the Gunners also posted the third-highest shot conversion rate in the competition last term (15.7%), behind only Manchester United (16.9%) and Atlético de Madrid (16.8%).

Atalanta vs Arsenal: Team news

The hosts have two key players out with long-term injuries in Gianluca Scamacca and Giorgio Scalvini.

Ben Godfrey and Rafael Toloi were also absent at the weekend, leaving Gian Piero Gasperini short of defensive options.

Former Arsenal man Sead Kolasinac is fit to feature against his old side, and so is ex-Aston Villa loanee Nicolo Zaniolo.

Meanwhile, the Gunners are facing the possibility of not having talismanic duo Odegaard or Saka.

The Arsenal captain is struggling with an ankle problem, while Saka limped off against Tottenham.

Declan Rice should come straight back into the team after his one-game Premier League suspension.

However, Mikel Merino is still out with a shoulder injury and fellow new signing Riccardo Calafiori has a calf issue.

Saka’s participation in this match is doubtfulGetty

Atalanta’s 23 UEFA Champions League matches have seen 3.6 goals per game (40 for, 43 against), the second-most of any team to feature 20+ times in the competition, behind Viktoria Plzen (3.8 per game).

Bukayo Saka was involved in eight goals in nine UEFA Champions League appearances for Arsenal in 2023-24 (4 goals, 4 assists), the most by an Englishman in their debut season, breaking the record set by Lee Bowyer for Leeds United in 2000-01 (6 goals, 1 assist).

Atalanta’s Ademola Lookman scored five times in his final three UEFA Europa League starts last season, including a hat-trick in the final against Bayer Leverkusen. Lookman’s never scored in four career appearances against Arsenal, while his only UEFA Champions League appearance was in October 2019 for RB Leipzig against Zenit.

Raheem Sterling could make his UEFA Champions League debut for Arsenal in this game and would become the first player in European Cup history to play for four different English teams, having previously played for Liverpool, Man City and Chelsea. The other four players to play for three are David Batty (Leeds, Blackburn, Newcastle), Yossi Benayoun (Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea), William Gallas (Chelsea, Arsenal, Spurs) and Kolo Touré (Arsenal, Man City, Liverpool).

Atalanta vs Arsenal: What has been said?

Speaking after the win over Spurs, Arteta hailed the way his team defended and worked for each other.

He said: The people that we have, I think I already spoke about it during the week, people that are harder, they have thick skin, they love the game and they love winning.

“In order to love the game and win, you have to do a lot of things – sometimes people call them ugly.

“Enjoying doing those ugly things is a big compliment of this team right now, and when you’re able to normally, you get a good gift.”