Atletico Madrid will be bidding to make it six La Liga victories in a row when they welcome Alaves to Wanda Metropolitano on Saturday night.
Diego Simeone’s side are currently fourth in the table, three points behind second-placed Sevilla, while Alaves occupy 19th position, five points behind 17th-placed Cadiz ahead of this weekend’s fixtures.
Atletico made it five La Liga victories in a row when they beat Rayo Vallecano 1-0 before the international break, with Koke scoring the only goal of the contest, and the result left Simeone’s side in fourth spot in the table, three points behind second-placed Sevilla.
The capital giants have had their problems this season, and they have not been able to launch a strong defence of their title, currently sitting 12 points behind division leaders Real Madrid.
However, Atletico now have second position in their sights, while they beat Manchester United 2-1 on aggregate in the last-16 stage of the Champions League to set up a quarter-final with Manchester City, and the first leg of the last-eight affair will take place at the Etihad Stadium next week.
It will be fascinating to see whether Simeone’s team can make it a Manchester double in the European Cup this term, and the capital outfit appear to have found their best form at the business end of the campaign.
The Red and Whites have the fourth-best home record in La Liga this term, picking up 30 points from their 14 matches, and they will be taking on an Alaves outfit that have won just once on their travels in the league this season, collecting only six points from 14 games.
Alaves have lost their last two in Spain’s top flight, going down 1-0 away to Real Sociedad on March 13 before suffering a 3-2 home defeat to Granada before the international break.
The Basque outfit have not been victorious in the league since overcoming Valencia on February 13, with their recent run seeing them drop into 19th spot in the table, collecting just 22 points from 29 matches.
Alaves are five points behind 17th-placed Cadiz, and there is certainly enough time to escape the relegation zone, but they will need to start picking up victories sooner rather than later.
Jose Luis Mendilibar’s side have found it difficult to secure results on their travels this season, losing 10 of their 14 matches, but they also have the third-worst home form, so it is not a surprise to see them struggling towards the bottom of the table.
Alaves, who finished 16th in La Liga last season, actually beat Atletico 1-0 in the reverse match earlier this season, but they lost 1-0 at Wanda Metropolitano in the league last term.
Atletico Madrid La Liga form:
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Atletico Madrid form (all competitions):
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Alaves La Liga form:
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We say: Atletico Madrid 2-0 Alaves
Atletico’s recent form has been extremely impressive, and we are fully expecting them to put another victory on the board this weekend. Alaves beat the capital giants earlier this season, but we are finding it very difficult to back the visitors to pick up a positive result at Wanda Metropolitano.