In one of the most open seasons in La Liga for some time, Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid will head into this local Madrid derby on Saturday evening with a comfortable points buffer over their usual rivals, Barcelona, and they’ll both fancy their chances of securing the three points here.
4th placed Real Madrid hold a six-point cushion over their old foes Barcelona but their crosstown rivals, Atletico Madrid, currently sit top of La Liga and in turn hold a six-point lead over Saturday night’s hosts prior to this important clash.
Real Madrid recently ended a disappointing three-match sequence without a win in the Spanish top flight last time out with a narrow 1-0 win away from home at Sevilla which ended a run of two defeats and a draw.
Losses against Valencia 4-1 and Deportivo Alaves 2-1 have resulted in Real Madrid losing ground on their local rivals and two defeats out of their last three matches on home turf at the Bernabeu means they cannot afford another defeat here.
Atletico Madrid have made an impressive start to this new La Liga campaign as the visitors still remain unbeaten after 10 matches into the new term, and they may just sense that this could be their season to win the La Liga title.
The visitors have won their last seven matches on the trot in the domestic top flight and this excellent sequence of results have helped lift Diego Simeone’s side to the summit of La Liga, a point ahead of 2nd placed Real Sociedad.
Atletico Madrid are now unbeaten in their last 26 matches in La Liga which is some record and perhaps indicates a shift of power in the division after Barcelona and Real Madrid had dominated the scene for so long.
In addition, the visitors are unbeaten in their last 12 matches on their travels too but this period also includes six draws, and with this being a local derby the goals market may be the most prudent option here, especially as eight of these 12 matches resulted in under 2.5 goals.
Four of the previous six meetings between these two sides have resulted in low-scoring affairs and with this being a local derby as well, this could be a tight encounter with goals few and far between.