Matchday 16 LaLiga fixture between Atletico Madrid and Valencia will take place on December 13 at the Riyadh Air Metropolitano. Atletico Madrid – Valencia: prediction and betting odds, statistics.
Atletico Madrid
The start of winter has gone poorly for the club. In LaLiga, Atletico went through the whole autumn without a defeat, extending an unbeaten run to 13 matches (9 wins, 4 draws) and recording six consecutive wins, but they failed to collect any points in their first two December fixtures. The Madrid side have lost two league games in a row for the first time since March. The club remains fourth in the table while rivals are pulling away, and the gap to leaders Barcelona has increased to nine points. It is worth noting Atletico ended a 17-match goalscoring streak in LaLiga. Despite recent results, Diego Simeone's team remain one of the competition's most reliable units: they have conceded 15 goals this season, fewer than all but Villarreal (13). Also, Atletico are still unbeaten at home in LaLiga — over eight home games they have collected 22 points, second only to Barcelona (24).
- At least one team failed to score in 6 of Atletico’s last 8 LaLiga matches.
- Atletico remain unbeaten across 12 home league matches (11 wins, 1 draw).
- Their uncompromising run in LaLiga reached eight matches this season (6 wins, 2 losses).
Predicted Atletico Madrid lineup (4-5-1)
Jan Oblak – Nahuel Molina, Marc Pubill, Clément Lenglet, David Ganczko – Conor Gallagher, Pablo Barrios, Thiago Almada, Nicolás González, Juliano Simeone – Julián Álvarez.
Defender José María Giménez and midfielders Marcos Llorente, João Cordeiro and Alex Baena are unavailable through injury. Clément Lenglet’s participation is in doubt.
Valencia
The team remain in the lower part of the table, but recent results suggest some progress. In the previous round Valencia snatched a late draw with Sevilla (1-1), extending Carlos Corberán’s side’s unbeaten run in LaLiga to four matches (1 win, 3 draws) — whereas earlier this season the club had never gone more than two league games without defeat. However, Valencia have managed just one victory in their last ten league matches. Additionally, the team are still searching for an away win in LaLiga this season, having collected only three points on the road — a worse record than all but Osasuna (2).
- Valencia failed to score in 20 of their last 21 LaLiga matches.
- No more than two goals were scored in 6 of Valencia’s last 7 matches in the competition.
- This season Valencia have conceded 23 goals in the league, a worse figure than only three other clubs.
Predicted Valencia lineup (4-2-3-1)
Julián Aguirresabal – Thierry Correa, César Tarrega, José Manuel Copete, José Luis Gayà – Javi Guerra, Pepelu – Luis Rioja, André Almeida, Arnaut Danjuma – Hugo Duro.
Key defender César Tarrega is suspended. Defender Muktar Diakabi’s participation is doubtful.
Prediction for Atletico Madrid – Valencia
After an excellent autumn Atletico have stalled and suffered two successive defeats, although both setbacks came away from home. At the Wanda grounds the team remain unbeaten in 12 LaLiga matches, with only one draw among those results. The club’s home winning run in the league stretches to seven matches, and in six of those they scored at least twice — this season Atletico have produced 3- and even 5-goal displays.
Valencia can be considered one of the weakest away sides in the division. On the road they are winless in nine LaLiga matches (4 draws, 5 losses). Matches against the top teams have been especially harsh: in the autumn Valencia were outplayed by Barcelona and Real Madrid with a combined score of 0-10. Overall, away this season Valencia concede an average of 2.28 goals per 90 minutes — the worst defensive record in the league.
My prediction – Home win and individual total (home) over 1.5
* For each team the starting XI shown is their line-up from their previous match in this competition.
