Atletico Madrid vs Real Madrid Preview and Tips

La Liga - Matchday 12

All eyes will be on the Spanish capital this coming Saturday when fourth-ranked Atletico Madrid host table toppers Real Madrid at the Estadio Vicente Calderón.

In recent years, the Madrid derby has become one of the most anticipated games on the Spanish calendar. The fixture is no longer dominated by the team in white with the home side now an established force on the European scene.

Diego Simeone’s men will look to haul themselves back into the title race after back-to-back away defeats at Sevilla and Real Sociedad (either side of a home win against Malaga) caused them to slip to fourth position in the table. Prior to that, they had gone eight games unbeaten in the league.

Such is the congestion at the top of the table that defeat could see them drop as low as sixth place on Saturday night. However, a win could pull them to within three points of the current pace setters.

Los Colchoneros come into this game on the back of a 2-0 away loss to sixth-ranked Real Sociedad. However, they have won 17 of their last 18 home matches in all competitions. In fact, since May 2013 only Villarreal and Barcelona have defeated them at Estadio Vicente Calderón. Meanwhile, visitors Real Madrid can maintain their two point gap at the top of the table with a win over their city rivals. With just one title in the last eight years and none in the last five, the pressure is on Zinedine Zidane to take the Merengues back to the top of the Spanish football tree.

Last time out, Los Blancos cruised to a 3-0 win at home to Leganes. Prior to that, they were surprisingly held to a 3-3 draw away to Legia Warsaw in the Champions League. Their last defeat in the league came away to this weekend’s opponents back in February. On that occasion it took just a single goal to separate the two teams.

On the road, Zidane’s men are unbeaten in their last 16 in the league, with their last defeat coming at Villarreal just under a year ago. In their last 12 away matches they have only dropped two points - a 2-2 draw at Las Palmas.

Team news

Nicolas Gaitan, Augusto Fernandez, Alessio Cerci and Moya are all injured for the home side, while star player Antoine Griezmann remains a doubt.

Meanwhile, Toni Kroos and Alvaro Morata will definitely miss out for the visitors, while Karim Benzema, Pepe and Casemiro will all face late fitness tests.

Recent form (League)

Atletico Madrid: LWLWW
Real Madrid: WWWWD

Betting odds and tips

Atelti have managed to score at least one goal in all of their home games this season, while Madrid have also found the net in all of their away fixtures.

This match is a tough one to call but both sides can be expected to find the net at least once.

You can back Both Teams to Score at 7/10 and the 1-1 Correct Score can be wagered at 5/1 - both with Bet365.

Any odds displayed within this article were correct at the time of publishing (18/11/2016) but are subject to change.

18/11/2016     © Frixo 2024