Wanda Metropolitano will play host to an intriguing La Liga contest on Saturday evening, with Atletico Madrid welcoming Athletic Bilbao for what is shaping up to be a fascinating clash in the top flight of Spanish football.
Atletico are third in the La Liga table, one point behind the leaders Barcelona, while Athletic occupy fourth, five points behind Diego Simeone's side, with the Basque outfit also in the title picture.
Match preview
© Imago
Atletico are firmly in the La Liga title race after 25 matches, sitting third in the table, just one point behind the leaders Barcelona, with a record of 15 wins, eight draws and two defeats seeing them collect 53 points thus far.
Simeone's side are going for three trophies this season, with the team also present in the semi-finals of the Copa del Rey, drawing 4-4 with Barcelona in the first leg of their last-four clash on Tuesday night, while they will tackle Real Madrid in the last-16 stage of the Champions League.
It is an incredibly tough period of the campaign for Atletico, as two of their next three matches are against Real Madrid in Europe, before hosting Barcelona in La Liga on March 16; the second leg of their Copa del Rey semi-final will then take place on April 2.
Atletico have to keep winning in La Liga to stay in the mix, as neither Barcelona nor Real Madrid are going to drop too many points, and the Red and Whites were 3-0 winners over Valencia in Spain's top flight last weekend.
The capital side have been impressive on home soil this season, picking up 28 points from their 13 La Liga fixtures at Wanda Metropolitano, and they will be hosting an Athletic side that have 20 points to show from their 12 La Liga games on their travels this term.
© Imago
Athletic are also enjoying an excellent campaign, and they will enter this match off the back of a 7-1 victory over Real Valladolid last weekend, with that result moving them onto 48 points from their 25 league matches this season.
The Lions are fourth in the table, four points ahead of fifth-placed Villarreal and just six points off the top of the division, with Ernesto Valverde's side also involved in the title race at this stage of proceedings.
Athletic have not finished fourth in La Liga since 2013-14, so it would be some achievement to return to the Champions League for next season, while their last La Liga title arrived in 1983-84.
The Basque outfit are unbeaten in their last 16 league matches, with their last defeat coming against Girona at the start of October, while they are also bidding for European success this term, preparing to tackle Roma in the last-16 stage of the Europa League.
Athletic have actually won three of their last five matches against Atletico in all competitions, but they have lost the last two league matches between the two sides, including a 1-0 reverse at San Mames earlier this season.
Team News
© Imago
Atletico may again be without the services of experienced midfielder Koke due to a minor issue, but Simeone's side are otherwise in excellent shape for their clash with Athletic.
Head coach Simeone will make changes to the side that started against Barcelona in the Copa del Rey, with Samuel Lino and Jan Oblak in line to return to the XI, while Robin Le Normand is also pushing to be involved from the first whistle.
Alexander Sorloth was again on the scoresheet off the bench against Barcelona, but it is set to be Antoine Griezmann and Julian Alvarez in the final third of the field, with the latter now on 20 goals in all competitions for the season.
As for Athletic, Alvaro Djalo remains unavailable with an ankle problem, but the Basque outfit did not suffer any fresh issues in their clash with Real Valladolid last time out.
It could be a case of same again from Valverde considering the nature of the performance, with Nico Williams managing a brace, and the Spain international will line up on the opposite side to his brother Inaki Williams.
Maroan Sannadi scored his first goal for Athletic against Real Valladolid last time out, and the 24-year-old is expected to retain his spot through the middle for the Lions this weekend.
Atletico Madrid possible starting lineup:
Oblak; Molina, Gimenez, Lenglet, Galan; Simeone, De Paul, Llorente, Lino; Griezmann, Alvarez
Athletic Bilbao possible starting lineup:
Simon; De Marcos, Vivian, Paredes, Yuri; Jauregizar, Vesga; I Williams, Sancet, N Williams; Sannadi
We say: Atletico Madrid 1-0 Athletic Bilbao
This is such a difficult match to call, with Athletic on a long unbeaten run, but Atletico away is one of the toughest matches in the division, and we can see Simeone's side edging a close game to put an incredibly important three points on the board.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Matt Law
