Alaves vs Atletico Madrid match preview and predictions for Sunday’s LaLiga match. Read on for the head-to-head, team news and predicted lineups as Atleti travel to the Basque Country.
- DATE: Sunday 3rd January 2021
- KICK-OFF: 16:15 (local time)
- STADIUM: Mendizorroza
- COMPETITION: LaLiga
Alaves vs Atletico Madrid Preview
Atletico Madrid’s push for a league title sees them travel to Vitoria on Sunday to take on Alaves. This is the kind of test that potential champions have to pass if they want to get their hands on silverware at the end of the season and Alaves have already taken 4 points from matches against Barcelona and Real Madrid this season, so they’ve reason to believe.
There wasn’t a huge amount to like about their performance last time out though. With Osasuna down to 10 men inside 10 minutes, Alaves failed to make their man advantage count and only rescued a point in the end thanks to a penalty from Lucas Perez.
They’ve not been losing many at Mendizorroza though and even without fans it remains a tricky fixture for visiting teams to negotiate. Only one of the last seven teams to come here have won with the likes of Real Sociedad and Barcelona both dropping points in this part of the Basque Country.
Atletico Madrid though clearly mean business and they have been winning more of these kinds of away fixtures, which in recent years they have regularly only drawn. Atleti come into this game as the clear form team in LaLiga with 7 wins from their last 8 games, cementing their status as the leaders heading into 2021.
While we aren’t actually at the midway point in the season, it still feels like a significant milestone and Atleti right now have to be seen as the title favourites. Luis Suarez’s header gave them a 1-0 win over Getafe in midweek as both Real Madrid and Barcelona again dropped points. What could have been a really damaging Madrid derby defeat now already seems like a distant memory with Diego Simeone’s side responding well with three straight league wins since going down at the Estadio Alfredo Di Stefano.
Read all our LaLiga match previews here!
Head to Head
- Last 6 Competitive Meetings: 5 Atleti Wins, 1 Draw.
- Atletico have won on 3 of their last 5 trips to Vitoria.
- However they were held to a 1-1 draw here last season.
- Alaves haven’t beaten Atleti since doing the double over them in the 2002/03 LaLiga season.
Team News
Tomas Pina is suspended for Alaves but they can welcome Rodrigo Battaglia back here.
Jose Gimenez is likely to replace the suspended Stefan Savic for Atleti who may opt for some light rotation in other areas.
Predicted Alaves Starting Lineup:
Pacheco – Duarte, Lejeune, Laguardia, Ximo – Rioja, Battaglia, Manu Garcia, Edgar – Joselu, Perez (4-4-2)
Predicted Atleti Starting Lineup:
Oblak – Hermoso, Felipe, Gimenez – Carrasco, Saul, Koke, Llorente, Vrsaljko – Suarez, Felix (3-5-2)
Alaves vs Atletico Madrid Predictions
Score Prediction: Alaves 0-1 Atletico Madrid
While Atleti have been held to draws on 2 of their last 4 trips to this ground, it just feels like they have slightly more about them this season. Defensively they are as solid as ever with just 5 goals conceded so far this term and with the likes of Marcos Llorente and Joao Felix improving and Luis Suarez adding a different dimension to their attacking play, they ought to find at least one moment where they manage to break through Alaves’ defence and score a goal which may be all they need to win this one.
Alaves vs Atletico Madrid Betting Tips (18+)
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