Valencia vs Atletico Madrid

Estadio de Mestalla forms the backdrop for a tasty-looking La Liga showdown between Valencia and Atletico Madrid.

New Valencia boss Gennaro Gattuso has experienced contrasting fortunes across his opening two La Liga games in charge (W1, L1), finishing on both ends of a 1-0 result. But as was the case for most of last season, Valencia’s scoring woes are coming back to haunt them, with ‘Los Murcielagos’ yet to score from open play this term. Atletico’s upcoming visit won’t be dolling out any favours to Gattuso, as his men have won none of their last 15 La Liga H2Hs (D6, L9) since a 3-1 victory in October 2014. On the bright side, ‘Los Che’ have won both previous home league matches without conceding and could make it three La Liga home clean sheets on the trot for the first time since August 2020.

In the meantime, Atletico Madrid’s 2022/23 La Liga season was off to a flying start as Diego Simeone’s side thrashed Getafe 3-0. However, Atletico’s celebrations were short-lived, with Villarreal crushing them down 2-0 last time out. Desperate to bounce back, ‘Los Colchoneros’ have to defy their abysmal five-game record (W1, D3, L1) in La Liga fixtures held on Monday (European time). If they lose at Mestalla for the first time since 2014 and draw a blank in the process, it would be the first time since November 2016 that ‘Los Rojiblancos’ have lost two successive La Liga matches without scoring. But there’s plenty of reason for optimism, considering they are unbeaten in their last seven top-flight visits to this venue (W4, D3).