Atletico Madrid vs Valencia 25/04/19

25 April 2019

After a tight 1-0 away win over Eibar at the weekend, Atletico Madrid go toe-to-toe with Valencia at the Estadio Wanda Metropolitano for midweek’s La Liga derby.

Sitting nine points adrift of La Liga toppers Barcelona with five league fixtures left to go, the hosts have to make the most out of this clash to prevent the Catalans from running away with the ultimate prize. Los Colchoneros have entered this round carrying a four-game home winning run on their backs, with three of those triumphs ending with the same 2-0 scoreline. No team has shipped fewer goals at home than Atletico (7) this term, with Diego Simeone’s men keeping 12 clean sheets in 16 LL home outings – more than any other side in the Spanish top tier. Notably, all five of Atletico’s last competitive home victories have seen them beating their rivals to nil. Furthermore, Los Rojiblancos’ last LL home defeat to Valencia dates back to 2011 with Atletico pulling off six wins in nine of their previous competitive H2Hs at this venue (W6, D3).

On the other hand, the visitors’ hopes of securing the Champions League promotion have been handed a major boost after the Bats managed four wins in five of their previous LL fixtures (W4, L1). Sitting just one point below fourth-placed Getafe, the Europa League semi-finalists have legitimate right to for the positive outcome of this race. Although they’ve established themselves as La Liga ‘draw specialists’ the Oranges have played out just six of their 16 league stalemates away from home. However, Valencia’s indifferent LL road form (W6, D6, L4) could be a huge influence here, especially judging on their away results on the past six LL road trips (W3, D2, L1). Still, Marcelino Garcia Toral’s men have failed to provide entertainment to the neutral when playing away from home this campaign, with only six of their 16 LL road games featuring over 2.5 match goals (38%).