The final of the 4 fixtures to be played in the Spanish topflight this week features the defending champions, Atletico Madrid, as they travel to play Granada.
The match will be played at the Estadio Nuevo Los Cármenes and the hosts begin the game in 15th place on 19 points while the visitors are in 5th place on 29 points.
Empezamos a preparar el último partido del año ante el Granada. pic.twitter.com/6s2B9DdrpP— Atlético de Madrid (@Atleti) December 19, 2021
Empezamos a preparar el último partido del año ante el Granada. pic.twitter.com/6s2B9DdrpP
Granada come into the game on the back of a convincing 4-1 victory at home over Real Mallorca on the weekend. With the score 1-1 at half-time, Granada took the lead just after the hour mark and secured maximum points with two late goals. That result means Granada are undefeated in 5 of their last 6 fixtures in all competitions.
They have been difficult to beat in recent La Liga games and in addition to the victory over Real Mallorca on the weekend, Granada have beaten Alaves 2-1 at home and picked up a point in draws at Athletic Bilbao and Cadiz.
Home form in the league shows Granada have lost only one of their last 4 La Liga matches. They have little trouble scoring goals when playing on home soil and Granada have found the back of the net in each of their last 8 home games.
However, they have trouble when it comes to keeping clean sheets and Granada have conceded goals in 7 of their last 8 home La Liga matches.
Atletico Madrid make the trip to the Estadio Nuevo Los Cármenes having suffered a 2-1 loss at Sevilla on the weekend.
The Estadio Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán is never an easy place to play and just as it appeared as though Atletico Madrid going to take a point from the match, Sevilla scored the winning goal with only 2 minutes remaining on the clock.
That was the second successive defeat in La Liga for Atletico Madrid following the 2-0 defeat at rivals Real Madrid last week. Atletico Madrid have won only one of their 3 most recent fixtures in all competitions and that came away from home in the Champions league against Porto.
Atletico Madrid are currently on a run of 3 straight defeats in La Liga, which started with a 2-1 reverse at home against Real Mallorca.
However, trends show Atletico Madrid have a good record against Granada and are undefeated in their last 16 games against them in La Liga. Both teams have scored in 8 of Atletico Madrid’s last 10 away league games.
Team news and Granada have just one injury doubt, with Rubén Rochina hoping to recover from an ankle injury.
Atletico Madrid are without injured defensive duo Sime Vrsaljko and Stefan Savic. There are also doubts over the fitness of forward Antoine Griezmann, who is struggling with a muscle injury.
Atletico Madrid need to get back to winning ways if they want to avoid getting dragged into a fight for the top four. This could be the game that sees them do just that, as they have a great record against Granada. We expect to see both teams score and an away win.