Spanish La Liga
Date: Sunday, 5th March 2017
Kick-Off at 15:15 UK
Venue: Estadio Vicente Calderon (Madrid).


Atletico Madrid vs Valencia Preview and Prediction

Atletico Madrid are now in a real battle for 4th place following another disappointing week where they’ve dropped 5 points. With Valencia looking much improved of late, this won’t be easy either and there is real potential for goals at both ends.

Diego Simeone’s men have long been considered the best defensive side in Spain but that is certainly not the case this term. Individual errors have cropped up with more regularity and they’ve not looked as solid collectively. With Diego Godin suspended and Juanfran most likely still out, they’ll probably be missing two of their first choice back four again here, which can only help the visitors. Atleti have conceded 0.92 goals per game at home this term, which may not sound a lot but it’s a big increase on the standard they’ve set in recent years.

At the other end they should have little trouble posing Valencia problems though. Antoine Griezmann has been in excellent form since the turn of the year and scored a brilliant goal in La Coruna on Thursday night. The Frenchman has scored in 9 of his last 15 appearances for Atleti and backing Griezmann to score anytime at 5/6 looks well worth a bet here.

Valencia have conceded 1.72 goals per game this term and have conceded in 84% of their matches. They’ve been a bit more solid in recent matches but mostly against significantly weaker teams than Atleti and their defence is prone to making silly errors. Going forward they’ve looked more lively since adding Fabian Orellana from Celta Vigo and Simone Zaza has given them a bit more presence up top so they should be able to pose one or two questions here.

Valencia often seem to slip up against the weaker sides but they’ve done quite well at times when the pressure has been off, against high-flying opponents. They’ve already beaten Real Madrid and Villarreal since the turn of the year and with Atleti not at their best defensively, there should be a goal in this for them.

HEAD TO HEAD
Atletico have won the last 3 meetings between the sides and 4 of their last 6 home games against Los Che. Both teams have scored in 4 of the last 5 meetings.
ATLETICO MADRID VS VALENCIA STATS
Both teams have scored in 77% of Valencia away games this term in La Liga. Atleti home games average 3.08 goals per game.
ATLETICO MADRID TEAM NEWS


Diego Godin is suspended so Gimenez should partner Savic in central defence. Saul returns from a ban and should start wide on the right. Fernando Torres is a doubt after being knocked unconscious on Thursday night in Galicia.
VALENCIA TEAM NEWS

Fabian Orellana returns from a ban to take his place wide on the left. Nani and Rodrigo are still missing so Carlos Soler and Simone Zaza should keep their places.
ATLETICO MADRID VS VALENCIA PREDICTIONS over 1.5