Atletico Madrid vs Athletic Club predictions and match preview for Sunday’s LaLiga fixture. Read on for analysis, team news and predicted lineups as Ernesto Valverde’s team heads to Madrid.
| Date | Sunday 19th February 2023 |
| Kick-Off | 18:30 (CET) |
| Stadium | Civitas Metropolitano |
| Competition | LaLiga |
Atletico Madrid vs Athletic Club Preview
Atleti and Athletic clash in a meeting of two historic clubs in Madrid this weekend. It’s also an important game in the battle for European places and an away win here really would open up the battle for Champions League qualification.
As it stands, the suspicion is that Atletico Madrid will continue to plod along unconvincingly whilst still maintaining their place in the top four without any major alarm. They are doing just enough to do that and their recent league results have been reasonably good with an unbeaten run of 5 matches now and 11 points collected.
However Diego Simeone’s side have only managed to score more than once in 1 of their last 6 games and last weekend’s late victory in Vigo did little to clarify just what his best team or system may be. It changes from week to week and he may have a fresh dilemma here after Memphis Depay came off the bench to score the only goal at Balaidos. The Dutchman is a minor injury doubt but is pushing for his first start in Atleti colours having only contributed off the bench so far.
Athletic Club meanwhile travel to the capital on the back of successive league wins. Oihan Sancet’s hat-trick helped them to a 4-1 home win over Cadiz and the young midfielder was on target again in the victory at Valencia last time out. Ernesto Valverde will be hoping that his side are back on track now after a slight dip in form and that’s timely with a Copa del Rey Semi-Final on the horizon against Osasuna.
European qualification will be a major target for Athletic this season and the league is still their best path to that. While the top four is not completely out of reach, defeat here would leave them 10 points shy of Atletico Madrid and they already have that margin to make up on Real Sociedad. Therefore it’s likely that Athletic’s true fight this season will be with the likes of Betis, Villarreal and potentially Rayo Vallecano for the Europa and Conference League places.
Team News & Possible Lineups
Atletico Madrid
| INJURED | |
| DOUBTFUL | Depay |
| BANNED | Savic |
Possible XI: Oblak – Reinildo, Hermoso, Gimenez, Molina – Carrasco, Koke, De Paul, Llorente – Griezmann, Morata (4-4-2)
Coach: Diego Simeone
Athletic Club
| INJURED | Inigo Martinez, Herrera |
| DOUBTFUL | |
| BANNED |
Possible XI: Simon – Yuri, Vivian, Yeray, De Marcos – Vesga, Muniain, Sancet – Berenguer, I. Williams, N. Williams (4-3-3)
Coach: Ernesto Valverde
Score Prediction: Atletico Madrid 1-1 Athletic Club
It’s tough to pick a winner here with Atletico Madrid still not producing convincing football while Athletic will be a threat on the break here with the pace of the Williams brothers and most likely Alex Berenguer if he gets the nod on the left flank. Atleti have just a 40% home win ratio this season in LaLiga and it may not improve on Sunday.
PLEASE NOTE – Our LaLiga predictions are not betting tips! No profits are guaranteed if you’re using them to bet on Spanish football. If you are gambling, do so responsibly and never stake more than you can afford to lose. BeGambleAware.
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