Atletico Madrid vs Levante 05/01/20

5 January 2020

Atletico Madrid and Levante go head-to-head at the Estadio Wanda Metropolitano in their opening La Liga (LL) game of the new calendar year.

Winners in their last two LL fixtures, the hosts have a perfect opportunity to stretch their winning league run here, as they take on a Levante side they’ve beaten in all ten of their previous top-flight home H2Hs. The clean-sheet theme is on the cards surely, as Los Colchoneros have shut Levante out in all three of their last league H2Hs held here and have also kept a blank sheet in five of nine LL home matches so far this season. Although they’ve scored 2+ match goals in three of their previous four LL home fixtures, a lack of goals could be throwing a spanner in the works. Diego Simeone’s men have drawn a blank in three LL home games already this term, bagging an average of 1.33 goals per LL home fixture. Also, Atletico tend to start their home games slow, as they’ve failed to find the net inside the opening 20 minutes of play in each of their nine LL home games played so far.

Meanwhile, Levante’s all-out approach has seen none of their last 11 LL matches end in a stalemate (W6, L5). Curiously, seven of those results (win/loss) during that 11-game sequence have come via a single-goal margin, with eight of those fixtures featuring three or more goals and seeing both teams score. Not exactly the strongest away performers, the Frogs have suffered six defeats in nine LL road trips this season, winning the other three. Curiously, they have lost all four of their LL away games that have seen them concede the opening goal, while all three of their away triumphs have come via the same 2-1 scoreline. Paco Lopez’s men will hardly record their elusive first away clean sheet of the season here, as they’ve failed to shut Atletico out in all eight of their previous top-flight H2Hs (W1, D2, L5).