Valencia face a tough prospect in the shape of visitors, Atletico Madrid, despite holding home advantage at their Estadio de Mestalla ahead of Saturday’s La Liga clash with the hosts looking to extend their unbeaten run in the Spanish top flight to four matches.
Following a worrying three-match losing streak during October which saw Valencia crumble to losses against Real Betis, Villarreal and Elche, the hosts have since steadied the ship by picking up points in draws with Getafe and Deportivo Alaves, along with an impressive 4-1 home win over Real Madrid in between.
In truth though, wins have been sporadic at best for Valencia who have captured just the one victory out of their last six matches overall in La Liga and the hosts have also failed to keep a single clean sheet out of their last 10 matches as well.
In addition, Valencia have failed to beat their Saturday’s visitors, Atletico Madrid, in each of their last 11 meetings.
Atletico Madrid currently occupy 2nd spot in La Liga and could go top of the Spanish top flight with all three points away at Valencia on Saturday afternoon, and as they’re still unbeaten so far in this season’s campaign, Atletico look a decent prospect here.
This particularly looks the case when you consider Atletico Madrid’s recent results in the Spanish top flight which has seen the visitors win their last five league matches on the trot as well as their solid performances in the Champions League.
On the domestic front, Atletico bring an impressive winning streak into this upcoming clash having recorded wins against Celta Vigo 2-0, Real Betis 2-0, Osasuna 3-1, Cadiz 4-0 and most impressive of all, a 1-0 home win over Barcelona which seems to set them up nicely for this trip to Valencia.
In addition, Atletico Madrid are now unbeaten in their last 24 matches overall in La Liga and under manager, Diego Simeone, have become an extremely hard team to break down and actually beat.
Atletico’s success has been underpinned by a solid defensive unit and this has also contributed to the visitors putting together an 11-match unbeaten sequence away from home too which includes five clean sheets.
Atletico’s strong defensive unit may therefore be the key to deciding the outcome of this clash.