Barcelona will travel to the capital this Sunday to take on Atletico Madrid is what is the biggest fixture of the weekend in La Liga.
Venue: Wanda Metropolitano (Madrid)
Key Statistics
Atletico Madrid have won their last four competitive games.
They have kept three clean sheets in their last four games.
The hosts have kept only one clean sheet at home this season.
Atletico coach Diego Simeone has a personal H2H win rate of 16% across all competitions against Barcelona (W5, D11, L16), his worst against any single club with a minimum of five matches.
Barcelona have lost just once on the road this league campaign (W6).
They have conceded a league-low six goals, with only coming at home.
The visitors have won their last four games.
Head to head
Barcelona have four wins in their last ten league meetings with Atletico. The hosts have three wins and three draws in that period.
Latest performances in all competitions
Atletico Madrid: W-W-W-W-W
Barcelona: W-D-W-W-W
Atletico Madrid
Atletico Madrid will look to continue their resurgent form in all competitions when they host Barcelona on Sunday.
The hosts made it four consecutive competitive wins on Wednesday when they beat Oveido 2-0 in the Copa del Rey courtesy of goals from Marcos Llorente and Pablo Barrios.
The result was their third since the league returned, and they will look to continue in the vein of form even as João Félix’s club future remains a hot topic.
Manager Diego Simeone knows that his team needs to continue avoiding distraction as they attempt to consolidate their place in the top four. They start this La Liga round in the top four, but can be out of the running with a slight knock, given that very few points separate multiple challengers.
They can’t afford to let their indifferent six-game league form (W2, D2, L2) see them slip in the standings again.
But the chances of that happening here are high, given Simeone’s personal record in this fixture. The Argentine may be worried about facing Barcelona, with his personal H2H win rate of 16% across all competitions (W5, D11, L16) his worst against any single club with a minimum of five matches.
However, given his side’s consecutive home league H2H wins with clean sheets give, he will be optimistic about improving that percentage. But another clean sheet may be a tough act to follow, though, as their 2-0 win over Elche last round was their only clean sheet at the Metropolitano this league campaign.
Possible Atletico Madrid starting line-up
Jan Oblak, Marcos Llorente, José Giménez, Stefan Savic, Reinildo Mandava, João Félix, Pablo Barrios, Geoffrey Kondogbia, Yannick Ferreira-Carrasco, Álvaro Morata, Antoine Griezmann.
Injured: None
Doubtful: None
Suspended: Mario Hermoso
Barcelona
Three days after their ill-tempered derby draw with Espanyol in La Liga, Barcelona had another poor outing, as they needed extra time to defeat third-tier club Intercity during their midweek Copa del Rey game.
That draw with Espanyol was just the third time Barça dropped points this league campaign (W12, D2, L1), cancelling their two-point lead over Real Madrid. The result left manager Xavi feeling “uneasy” about their title race and a matchup his club have won just once from their last five attempts (D2, L2) in a La Liga context.
A win here will be high on Barça’s New Year’s wish list, and having lost just one game this season, they will fancy their chances here. However, they will have to get that win without the services of Robert Lewandowski, who has been given a three-match suspension for his outburst in his side’s game against Osasuna in November.
Possible Barcelona starting line-up
Andre Ter Stegen, Sergi Roberto, Andreas Christensen, Marcos Alonso, Álex Balde, Gavi, Frenkie De Jong, Pedri, Ousmane Dembélé, Ferrán Torres, Ansu Fati.
Injured: None
Doubtful: None
Suspended: Robert Lewandowski, Jordi Alba
Odds
| Atletico Madrid to win | Draw | Real Sociedad to win | |
| Odds | 3.00 | 3.30 | 2.45 |
| Probability (%) | 32 | 29 | 39 |
Prediction
Atletico Madrid 1-2 Barcelona
