Atletico Madrid will be looking to avoid a fourth straight La Liga defeat when they make the trip to Estadio Nuevo Los Carmenes on Wednesday night to take on Granada.
A disappointing run of form has seen Atletico fall 14 points off the top of the table, while Granada occupy 15th position, having picked up 19 points from their opening 17 matches of the season.
Match preview
© Reuters
Granada have impressed since returning to La Liga in 2019, finishing seventh and ninth in their last two campaigns at this level, but it would be fair to say that they have largely disappointed this season.
Indeed, Robert Moreno's side have only won four of 17 league matches this term, while a total of 19 points has left them in 15th position in the table, just four points outside of the relegation zone.
The home team will enter this match off the back of a thumping 4-1 victory over Mallorca on Sunday evening, though, with Jorge Molina scoring three times in a fine performance.
Granada are actually now on a four-game unbeaten run in the league, which has included wins in their last two home league fixtures, and Moreno's team are certainly capable of inflicting another defeat on a wounded Atletico, who have almost seen their title hopes evaporate in recent weeks.
That said, the Andalusian outfit have lost seven of their last eight La Liga meetings with the capital giants, including a 2-1 defeat in the corresponding match last term.
© Reuters
Atletico managed to book their spot in the last-16 stage of the Champions League with a 3-1 victory over Porto on December 7, but the Spanish champions have not won in the league since the end of November.
Simeone's side were in touch with leaders Real Madrid when they beat Cadiz 4-1 on November 28, but the Red and Whites have lost their last three in Spain's top flight to Mallorca, Real Madrid and Sevilla.
Atletico looked to be on course for a point at Estadio Ramon on Saturday, only for Lucas Ocampos to win it for Sevilla in the final stages, and the defeat has left the capital side in fifth position in the table.
Simeone's team are 14 points behind leaders Real Madrid and only two points clear of seventh-placed Barcelona, meaning that another poor result in this round of matches could see them drop further down the division ahead of the winter break in Spain.
The 11-time La Liga champions look some way short of being title challengers this term, but it is almost unthinkable for them to finish outside of the top four, so there is no downplaying the importance of this match considering what another defeat would do to the confidence of the players.
- L
- L
- D
- W
- D
- W
- D
- W
- W
- D
- L
- W
- D
- W
- W
- L
- L
- L
- L
- W
- L
- W
- L
- L
Team News
© Reuters
Granada will again be without the services of Ruben Rochina due to an ankle issue, but the home side are otherwise in excellent shape heading into Wednesday's contest.
Having dispatched Mallorca in impressive fashion on Monday, Moreno could decide to select the same XI here, with Luis Suarez again joining Molina in the final third of the field.
Sergio Escudero for Carlos Neva at left-back is a possibility, but the likes of Carlos Bacca, Alberto Soro and Yan Eteki will seemingly have to accept spots on the bench once again.
As for Atletico, Marcos Llorente will miss out with the muscular problem that he picked up against Sevilla, while Antoine Griezmann, Sime Vrsaljko and Stefan Savic are also still on the sidelines.
Simeone is expected to resist the temptation to make wholesale changes from the loss to Sevilla, but Llorente's absence will open the door for Rodrigo De Paul to feature in central midfield.
Joao Felix, meanwhile, could come in for Angel Correa in attack despite the speculation surrounding the Portugal international, who is allegedly considering his future at Wanda Metropolitano.
Granada possible starting lineup:
Maximiano; Quini, Sanchez, Torrente, Neva; Puertas, Milla, Gonalons, Machis; Suarez, Molina
Atletico Madrid possible starting lineup:
Oblak; Felipe, Kondogbia, Hermoso; Trippier, De Paul, Koke, Lemar, Carrasco; Suarez, Felix
We say: Granada 1-2 Atletico Madrid
Atletico are in desperate need of a win, and there will be huge pressure on the visitors to triumph on Wednesday. Granada will be feeling good about themselves at the moment after back-to-back home league victories, but we fancy the reigning champions to edge a tight contest here.
Top tip
Matt Law
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Atletico Madrid win with a probability of 51.51%. A win for Granada had a probability of 24.25% and a draw had a probability of 24.2%.
The most likely scoreline for an Atletico Madrid win was 0-1 with a probability of 10.74%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-2 (9.65%) and 0-2 (9%). The likeliest Granada win was 1-0 (6.87%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (11.5%). The actual scoreline of 2-1 was predicted with a 6.2% likelihood.
