Atalanta vs Arsenal live updates: Champions League predictions ...

Who has impressed in the battle of the Champions League broadcasters this week? The Athletic's Nick Miller and Pablo Maurer discuss below.

Arsenal's Bukayo Saka was involved in eight goals in nine Champions League matches last season (four goals, four assists).

It's the most of any English player in their debut Champions League campaign.

Who previously held the record? That would be Lee Bowyer, who scored six goals and provided one assist for Leeds United in the Champions League in 2000-01.

There could be a familiar face to Arsenal fans in the Atalanta line-up today; their former left-back Sead Kolasinac has just returned from an injury so is available to Atalanta.

The same is true of Berat Djimsiti and Nicolo Zaniolo.

As far as absentees go, the Italians are without four players. Giorgio Scalvini and ex-West Ham striker Gianluca Scamacca are out long term while defensive duo Rafael Toloi and Ben Godfrey were not involved in the win against Fiorentina at the weekend.

It is not all bad for Arteta and Arsenal, though. They are able to welcome Declan Rice back into the team after he served a one-match suspension in Sunday's north London derby win.

Gabriel Jesus returned to the pitch as a substitute in that match while Riccardo Calafiori has been included in the travelling squad after overcoming an injury suffered on international duty. Bukayo Saka is also available after picking up a minor knock on Sunday.

As well as Odegaard, Mikel Merino (shoulder), Kieran Tierney (thigh), Takehiro Tomiyasu (knee) and Oleksandr Zinchenko (calf) are all unavailable.

The big news yesterday on the Arsenal front was the update provided by Mikel Arteta on the ankle injury suffered by Martin Odegaard while away on international duty with Norway.

And unfortunately for last season's Premier League runners up, it looks like their captain will be spending an extended period on the sidelines.

“After a recent scan, he has some damage on one of the ligaments in the ankle,” Arteta said. “We are going to miss him. It is something quite significant so we are going to lose him for a while. Hopefully not months.

“He’s our captain. He’s been one of the biggest and best players in our team. Our identity is very linked to how he plays and behaves. It’s a big test for the team to see how able we are to show a different face.”

Read more below

GO FURTHER

Arsenal’s Martin Odegaard out ‘for a while’ with ankle ligament injury – Mikel Arteta

Not the start that any of these eight teams will have wanted as they already have work to do to turn their fortunes around.

The good news is that they have seven more matches to claw back the negative goal difference.

And from those results, these are the teams leading the way in the brand new league phase.

I'm willing to put my neck on the line and predict that Bayern Munich will still be leading the way after today's matches!

Not quite as many goals yesterday, but still plenty of drama across the six matches.

Here is how they played out:

12 matches down, six to go in the first Champions League matchday of the season.

Here are the results from Tuesday, the first day of the new campaign:

As mentioned, there are six more Champions League matches on the way today.

Like on Tuesday and Wednesday, there are two in the earlier slot and then four later on.

5:45pm BST/12:45pm EDT/9:45am PDT

8pm BST/3pm EDT/12pm PDT

Gewiss Stadium, Bergamo

One of the more intriguing stadiums of European football is where we pitch up for today's game.

The modest Gewiss Stadium, with a capacity of just over 21,000, is the home of Atalanta. The first phase of its renovation is complete, which is good news for fans as it now has a roof on all four stands.

There will be 1,304 Arsenal supporters housed in the away end.

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Here are the broadcasters for today's game:

Arsenal's Champions League opener against Atalanta is in the late Champions League slot today.

That means kick-off comes your way at 8pm BST/3pm EDT/12pm PDT.

Hello and welcome along to The Athletic's live coverage of Atalanta vs Arsenal.

We have a very rare treat today: Champions League football on a Thursday! But don't get used to it, this is the one and only time it will happen this season.

Arsenal's trip to Bergamo headlines another day of six matches in Europe's elite club competition, so stick with us over the next few hours for all the build up, as well as updates from the other matches.