On Thursday, La Liga resumes following the World Cup break. The final clash of the day sees Atletico Madrid host Elche at Civitas Metropolitano.
With 14 games in the books, winless Elche find themselves rock bottom of the table on four points. Consequently, they are eight points from safety.
We move onto the next round 💪 pic.twitter.com/6HyAiBVaNA— Atlético de Madrid (@atletienglish) December 22, 2022
We move onto the next round 💪 pic.twitter.com/6HyAiBVaNA
Meanwhile, Atletico occupy fifth place and are one of three teams on 24 points. As a result, they sit 20 points ahead of Elche.
Diego Simeone’s men have lost just four of their 14 La Liga games this season, picking up seven wins and three draws.
Although Atletico have only managed to win one of their last six home games in all competitions, they have lost just four of their previous 25 home league encounters.
Atletico returned to competitive action with a 3-1 Copa del Rey victory over Arenteiro on Thursday, thanks to a brace from Yannick Carrasco.
Granted, Simeone’s side ended the first phase of the season with a three-game winless run in La Liga. But they shouldn’t struggle to return to winning aways against Elche.
Indeed, Elche have failed to win a single La Liga game this season – registering four draws and ten losses in the process.
Not only are Elche the second-lowest scorers in the division (10), but they also have the worst defensive record (31).
When you look at the bigger picture, Elche have managed to win just three of their past 24 league games – following a poor end to the previous campaign.
It is also worth noting that Elche have failed to keep a clean sheet in their last 19 La Liga encounters, underlining their defensive problems.
Head-to-head: Atletico have won nine of their previous ten meetings with Elche in all competitions, keeping a clean sheet on eight occasions.
Elche’s last victory over Atletico came all the way back in 2002. Since then, they have managed a solitary draw in this fixture.
Team news: Atletico have no injury worries at the moment. However, Rodrigo de Paul, Nahuel Molina and Angel Correa could miss Thursday’s clash after winning the World Cup with Argentina.
As for Elche, they look set to be without injured midfielder Jony Alamo as he continues to recover from a meniscus problem.
When you couple Elche’s league position with Atletico’s record in this fixture, all the signs point towards a comfortable home win on Thursday.
Forebet predicts that Atletico will seal a high-scoring victory over Elche, netting over 2.5 in the process. A clean sheet is also likely for Simeone’s side.