Round 33 of the Spanish La Liga begins on Tuesday night and there is a fantastic game to look forward to between Barcelona and Atletico Madrid.
The hosts come into the game in second place, 2 points behind the leaders Real Madrid and cannot afford to drop points in the title race. The visitors are in third place, too far adrift to challenge for the title but aiming to qualify for the Champions League.
Barcelona dropped points in their previous match at Celta Vigo and with Real Madrid beating Espanyol on Sunday night they are now having to play catch up. Since the resumption of the league on the 13th of June, Barcelona have remained unbeaten but have been held in two matches, including a 0-0 draw at Sevilla.
The victories have come away at Real Mallorca and at home against Leganes and Athletic Bilbao. Trends show Barcelona have lost only one of their last 11 La Liga games and are on a tremendous run at home, winning each of the last 8 league matches at the Camp Nou. In fact, Barcelona undefeated in their last 28 home league games.
Barcelona have managed to keep a clean sheet in each of their last 4 home La Liga matches. They have also scored at least one goal in their last 8 league games on home soil, netting 2 or more goals in 5 of those 8 matches.
Atletico Madrid come into the game having defeated Deportivo Alaves 2-1 at home on Saturday. That result means Atletico Madrid have won each of their last 4 games, all of which have been in La Liga. They remain undefeated since the restart of the league having drawn their first match away at Athletic Bilbao 1-1.
It is fair to say Atletico Madrid have not been at their best this season in La Liga but they are currently on an unbeaten run of 10 matches. The main issue has been the number of draws and Atletico Madrid have been held in 4 of those 10 games.
Away form shows Atletico Madrid are undefeated in their last 5 matches. They have won each of the last two on the road and have found the back of the net in each of those 5 games. However, despite showing some signs of improvement in recent matches Atletico Madrid have kept only two clean sheets in their last 8 away league matches.
Team news and Barcelona are still without Frenkie De Jong and Ousmane Dembélé. There are also doubts over the fitness of Sergi Roberto who is recovering from a hip injury.
Atletico Madrid travel without both Koke and Stefan Savic who are suspended and that comes as a big blow. Mario Hermoso and Sime Vrsaljko are injured.
Atletico Madrid are sure to arrive at the Camp Nou with the intention of keeping a clean sheet. However, with two key players missing it is going to be difficult so expect to see Barcelona come out on top but with under 2.5 goals scored.