Atletico Madrid vs Athletic Club Match Preview & Predictions

Atletico Madrid vs Athletic Club match preview and predictions for Wednesday’s LaLiga match. Read on for the head-to-head, team news and predicted lineups as the hosts aim to extend their lead at the top of the Spanish top flight.

Atletico Madrid vs Athletic Club Preview

There is one game in LaLiga on Wednesday and it sees two teams who could end up sharing the domestic silverware in Spain this season meet. Atletico Madrid will go 6 points clear at the top of LaLiga if they win this, but they will no longer have any games in hand after this one. Athletic meanwhile have already won the Supercopa and have two Copa del Rey Finals to look forward to next month.

Before the game, Diego Simeone would probably have settled for a draw in their Madrid derby at the weekend. They’ll be 8 points clear of Real Madrid if they win this but there will still be the sense of an opportunity to truly kick Los Blancos out of the title race that was missed. Karim Benzema’s 88th minute goal denied Atleti what would have been their first ever derby win at the Wanda Metropolitano.

While it’s still very much in their hands, Atleti have a lot of obstacles to overcome before they can even dream of getting their hands on the trophy. Two matches against a rejuvenated Athletic side rank right up there in terms of their toughest remaining challenges but this is a fixture that Diego Simeone’s men usually enjoy.

Athletic have never picked up as much as a point on this ground but they are clearly a different beast under the new coach. As well as their cup heroics, Sunday’s 2-1 win over Granada means the Basques are now right in the hunt for European qualification via the league too. They are up to 8th place and 7th will be good enough for Europe as far as they are concerned, as were they to lose the 2021 Copa Final, that place would be deferred to the league.

Athletic are yet to lose to anyone other than Barcelona since making that coaching switch around the turn of the year. They are unbeaten in 8 games in all competitions heading into this, although 6 of those were level after 90 minutes and there surely now must be some fatigue building after such a busy schedule.

Head to Head

• Last 6 Competitive Meetings: 4 Atleti Wins, 1 Athletic Win, 1 Draw.
• Atletico Madrid have won all of the last 5 meetings in the Spanish capital.
• The sides haven’t met so far this term with a 1-1 draw in Bilbao last June the last meeting.
• Atleti have scored twice or more in all of the previous meetings at the Wanda Metropolitano.

Team News

Atleti may recall Joao Felix to the XI after he was left out again vs Los Blancos. Jose Gimenez is still out injured.

Inigo Martinez is suspended for Athletic who are likely to recall the likes of Inaki Williams and Raul Garcia after they were rested at the weekend.

Predicted Atleti Starting Lineup:

Oblak – Hermoso, Savic, Felipe, Trippier – Carrasco, Koke, Llorente, Correa – Suarez, Felix (4-4-2)

Predicted Athletic Starting Lineup:

Simon – Balenziaga, Yeray, Nunez, Capa – Muniain, Vesga, Vencedor, Berenguer – R. Garcia, Williams (4-4-2)

Atletico Madrid vs Athletic Club Predictions

LaLiga Expert Predicts: Atletico Madrid 2-0 Athletic Club (follow us on Tipstrr to view our betting tips)

This may be a case of one game too many for Athletic who could struggle to match the intensity they’ve found in recent weeks. They did rotate quite heavily as they beat an injury-ravaged Granada side at the weekend, just 3 days after going to Extra Time in the Copa del Rey. However the exertions of the past week and indeed the past couple of months may still take its toll and Atleti ought to extend their advantage at the top of LaLiga to 6 points.

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