Atletico Madrid will be aiming to make it six straight La Liga victories when they welcome Alaves to Wanda Metropolitano on Sunday night.
Diego Simeone's side are fourth in the La Liga table, picking up 22 points from their opening nine league games, while Alaves are down in 15th, boasting nine points from their first 10 matches of 2023-24.
Match preview
© Reuters
Atletico are a game behind 18 of the other 19 teams in the division, as their fixture with Sevilla, which was scheduled for the start of September, had to be postponed due to bad weather in the Madrid area.
As a result, their position in the table and points total is even more impressive, boasting a record of seven wins, one draw and one defeat from nine games to collect 22 points, which has left them fourth, three points behind leaders Real Madrid, crucially with a match in hand.
Atletico could be top of the table at the moment if that Sevilla game had gone ahead, and with Barcelona and Real Madrid playing each other this weekend, there is a chance for Simeone's side to move closer to the summit.
The Red and Whites have been victorious in each of their last five games in La Liga, including a 3-0 success away to Celta Vigo last weekend, with the team in excellent form since their shock 3-0 loss at Valencia.
Atletico had a scare in the Champions League on Wednesday, with Celtic twice leading in their Group E contest, but the Spanish side managed to bounce back on both occasions to claim a 2-2 draw, with the result in Scotland leaving them second in their section on five points.
© Reuters
Alaves, meanwhile, are on a six-game winless run in Spain's top flight, with their last victory coming at home to Valencia at the start of September.
The Basque outfit have drawn three and lost three of their six games since, including back-to-back 1-1 draws with Real Betis and Villarreal in their last two, which have to go down as positive results.
Alaves boast a record of two wins, three draws and five defeats from their 10 league games this season to collect nine points, which has left them down in 16th position in the table, three points above the bottom three.
Luis Garcia's side, who were promoted back to La Liga via last season's Segunda Division playoffs, have only scored eight times in the league this season, which is the joint-second worst record behind Las Palmas (six).
El Glorioso suffered a 4-1 defeat to Atletico when the two teams last locked horns in Madrid towards the end of the 2021-22 season, but they did manage to win 1-0 in their home match during that particular campaign.
Team News
© Reuters
Atletico have a relatively lengthy injury list at this moment in time, with Samuel Lino, Jose Gimenez, Memphis Depay, Thomas Lemar, Vitolo and Reinildo all on the sidelines.
Head coach Simeone is expected to make a couple of changes to the side that started against Celtic in the Champions League, with Marcos Llorente and Pablo Barrios in line for recalls.
Llorente is likely to line up as the left-sided wing-back here, with Barrios moving into midfield, but it will once again be Antoine Griezmann and Alvaro Morata in the final third of the field.
As for Alaves, Carlos Benavidez and Giuliano Simeone remain unavailable for selection, while Javi Lopez is also expected to miss out with an ankle problem.
Head coach Garcia will have been pleased with his team's performance against Villarreal last time out, and with no fresh issues reported, it would not be a surprise to see the same XI for this match.
Luis Rioja and Alex Sola are again expected to operate in the wide positions this weekend, with Samu, who was on the scoresheet against Villarreal, set to be given the nod through the middle.
Atletico Madrid possible starting lineup:
Oblak; Savic, Witsel, Hermoso; Molina, De Paul, Koke, Barrios, Llorente; Griezmann, Morata
Alaves possible starting lineup:
Sivera; Gorosabel, Abqar, Sedlar, Duarte; Blanco, Guevara; Sola, Guridi, Rioja; Samu
We say: Atletico Madrid 2-0 Alaves
Alaves will certainly have had longer to prepare for this match, but it is so difficult to back them to pick up a positive result. Atletico's recent form in La Liga is excellent, and we are expecting the capital side to secure another three points in Sunday's contest at Wanda Metropolitano.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Matt Law
