After Tuesday’s update that only Leonardo Spinazzola was expected to miss Thursday evening’s Europa League clash against Everton, it seems Atalanta have received some bad news regarding a few of their key players.
According to Gazzetta dello Sport on Thursday, Josip Ilicic is now expected to miss the encounter, having picked up a left hip injury, a blow for the Serie A team, as the Slovenian playmaker is one of their few experienced stars, with 46 caps for his country.
Also unlikely to play the game is Robin Gosens who, on Tuesday, was expected to feature, but the Italian newspaper state the German left-back is unavailable.
With both him and Spinazzola out, there is an emergency situation at left-back, with right-back Timothy Castagne now probable to fill in the role for the game, meaning Hans Hateboer will start at in his stead on the other side.
This means Ronald Koeman could have an area to exploit on Thursday night, with someone like Ademola Lookman capable of causing a full-back out of position some trouble.
With 4000 tickets at the disposal of Everton fans, Gazzetta state that 3516 have been sold so far, which is a stark increase on the 2000 or so that were announced as purchased a few days ago.
It should be a good game, and an emotional one for Atalanta fans, who will see their team returning to European football for the first time in over 25 years.
Even if it is at Sassuolo’s stadium.
