Almeria vs Atletico Madrid

Atletico Madrid’s hopes of getting their stuttering La Liga campaign back on track take them to the Estadio de los Juegos Mediterráneos for a must-win clash against newly-promoted Almeria.

Almeria’s league form in the post-World Cup period has flattered to deceive, with Los Rojiblancos going winless in both La Liga fixtures since the mid-season halt (D1, L1). Keen to secure top-flight survival following promotion last season, the hosts languish only two points beyond the drop zone, so 14th place doesn’t look promising. Almeria found themselves on the receiving end of a 2-0 scoreline against Real Sociedad last weekend, ending an impressive run of four consecutive home league victories. Another disappointing result is on the cards, though, with Rubi’s side losing back-to-back La Liga encounters against Atletico Madrid without scoring.

Meanwhile, Atletico Madrid’s embarrassing La Liga campaign hit a new low last weekend when Barcelona won 1-0 at the Metropolitano Stadium in another intense affair featuring two red cards. After losing three of their last five matches (W1, D1), Los Colchoneros have compromised their Champions League bid, falling out of the top four again. However, Diego Simeone’s men have won their last two La Liga matches on the road and are gunning for three straight top-flight wins away from home in a single season for the first time since 2017/18. Worryingly for the visitors, they lament a disastrous win ratio of only 17% across their six previous La Liga visits to Almeria (W1, D3, L2).