Atletico Madrid are built on defence. Diego Simeone’s team has kept four clean sheets in their last five matches including a shut out of Real Valladolid last weekend.
Espanyol have drawn three consecutive matches in La Liga and will hope that run can end with a win against Atletico Madrid.
The Rojiblancos defeated Espanyol in their last La Liga meeting 1-0 and will be confident they can do it once more.
Atletico Madrid have won four matches on the bounce outscoring opponents 7-2 during that winning run. The Mattress Makers have the best defence in La Liga having conceded just 23 goals. The team’s attack has been the letdown, however, scoring 52 times.
Too often, Atletico Madrid have failed to score from week to week. The dropped points allowed Barcelona to take the title with two games to spare.
Despite winning their previous game against Espanyol this season, Atletico Madrid have struggled in recent seasons against their Catalan rivals. Espanyol are undefeated in three of their last six games against Atletico Madrid in La Liga.
That good form includes two Espanyol victories during the 2017-18 season. Last season, Espanyol kept two clean sheets against Atletico Madrid, outscoring them 3-0 over two matches.
Espanyol are 30 points behind Atletico Madrid in the table as the weekend nears. Although they have played well recently picking up points, Espanyol have failed to challenge for a European place this term.
The good news is they could carry that momentum over into next season and challenge the top six.
Recent fixtures between the two clubs have been low scoring. Espanyol have seen under 2.5 goals scored in 12 of their last 13 matches against Diego Simeone’s team in all competitions.
In fact, six of the last eight games between Espanyol and Atletico Madrid have featured fewer than 1.5 goals scored.
Injuries have been a detrimental factor in Atletico Madrid’s season. Simeone has continually had players sidelined and unavailable. This week, Borja Garces, Lucas Hernanez, and Gimenez are all confirmed to miss the game.
Goalkeeper Jan Oblak, who recently signed a new long-term contract at Atletico Madrid, is expected to sit out with an injury as well. Stefan Savic, and Nikola Kalinic are also expected to miss through injury and illness, respectively.
In addition, striker Diego Costa is still serving a suspension that will see him sit out until next term.
Despite the absentees, Atletico Madrid still have Antoine Griezmann. The striker has scored 15 goals this season and tallied the winner in the teams’ previous game.
Griezmann will lead Atletico Madrid to victory in yet another low scoring game with under 2.5 goals scored.