Atletico Madrid vs Sevilla 07/03/20

7 March 2020

Atletico Madrid (5th) and Sevilla (3rd) continue their pursuit of the top-four finish in La Liga (LL) as they come face-to-face at the Estadio Wanda Metropolitano, with just two points separating the sides ahead of the kick-off.

Unbeaten in four league matches (W2, D2), the hosts will hope to maintain their run of form when they take on a side they’ve not lost to in all ten of their previous LL home H2Hs (W5, D5). There’s no doubt that Diego Simeone will lean on his rock-solid backline to deliver him the desired outcome here. Los Colchoneros have not only conceded over 1.5 home goals just once in 13 LL fixtures here, but they’ve kept seven clean sheets. Although no team has conceded fewer home goals than Atletico (7) thus far, 71% (five) of them came in the first half of play. Yet, even if they ship the opening goal here, as they’ve done in four of 13 LL home games so far, Simeone’s side may still end up winning the game – they performed three turnarounds already (L1)!

As for the visitors, they’ve secured back-to-back LL triumphs going into this encounter, both of which saw them score precisely three goals per game and win the first half ‘to nil.’ However, the Andalusian giants have struggled for consistency when away from home lately (W2, L2), with each of those four results (win/loss) seeing the winner on the day score at least two goals. Quick-start Sevilla have made a breakthrough in 11 of their 13 LL road trips so far this campaign (85%), although they won only seven of such fixtures (D2, L2). But, Julen Lopetegui’s men could find themselves in trouble if they concede the opening goal, as they lost both of their LL away games in which they’ve allowed the opener.