Atletico Madrid vs Valencia 19/10/19

19 October 2019

The two sides placed in the upper half of the La Liga (LL) table go head-to-head at the Estadio Wanda Metropolitano, as Atletico Madrid tackle Valencia at home.

Although the hosts avoided defeat in four consecutive LL matches ahead of this one, they’ve pulled off just one victory in that period (W1, D3). All three of those stalemates have ended with the same 0-0 scoreline, with two coming in front of the home crowd. Curiously, four of Atletico’s five LL results (win/loss) so far have seen the winners of the day keep a clean sheet, with all of those matches featuring under 2.5 goals (W3, L1). But, Los Colchoneros’ haul of seven league goals scored so far is easily beaten by nine sides from the upper half of the table, which seems to be their burning issue at the moment. Still, no team has shipped fewer LL goals than Atletico (4) to date, with Diego Simeone’s men keeping a clean sheet in three of four LL home outings this term.

Meanwhile, the visitors have gone from back-to-back LL draws to two consecutive triumphs, both of which have come via a single-goal margin. However, the Oranges have lost two of three LL away matches this season, with two of their league results (win/loss) on the road ending with the identical 1-0 scoreline (W1, L1). As such, scoring first might prove crucial for Albert Celades’ side, who returned just one point from three league fixtures that saw them concede the opener (D1, L2). Valencia’s struggling away from home is unlikely to end here, however, as they’ve suffered four consecutive defeats in LL H2Hs with Atletico in Madrid.