Valencia vs Atlético Madrid Prediction - Who Will Win The Argentinean Dugout Battle?

Next Sunday, Juan Antonio Pizzi’s Valencia will take on the league leaders Atlético Madrid at Mestalla for round 35 of Liga BBVA, on a match that will certainly be the main event of the weekend at Spanish football.

With their minds on next Thursday’s UEFA Europa League match against Sevilla, Valencia went to Pamplona to play against Osasuna and they didn’t manage to get anything better than a draw, achieved on the last ten minutes of the match thanks to a goal from Jonas, who was also responsible for a hat-trick when both sides went head-to-head back in December.

On what was a somewhat bland match, Valencia never seemed to able to disturb their opponents' goalkeeper, reason why they might consider themselves happy with match's outcome. Next Sunday, however, things will certainly be different, and Los Che will probably want to give a better image of themselves against the league leaders.

For next Sunday’s clash, the Hispano-Argentinean manager will probably still not be able to count on the Brazilian goalkeeper Diego Alves and on the Spanish centre back Victor Ruiz, who are still sidelined due to long term injuries.

As for the league leaders, Atlético grabbed an important victory over a well organized Elche side last Friday on what wasn’t by any means an easy match for the Colchoneros. Atlético Madrid only took the lead of the match during the second half thanks to a goal by the Brazilian centre back Miranda and it was only after two impressive stops from Courtois (that denied the equalizer to Elche), that Diego Costa sentenced the match on injury time with a goal from the penalty spot. The Colchoneros’ visit to Mestalla will certainly be a very demanding match to Diego Simeone’s side. The Argentinean manager will need to continue the players' rotation he has been doing so far because of the team’s recent huge amount of matches, especially since he needs everyone to be at their best during such a demanding week.

For next Sunday’s clash, Diego Simeone is not yet certain if he will be able to count on the Turkish flamboyant midfielder Arda Turan, who is still on the process of recovering from the injury that struck him recently.

When both sides met last December at Vicente Calderón, Atlético Madrid hammered Los Che 3-0 , with Djukic still at the helm of Valencia, thanks to a goal from Raúl Garcia and two from the inevitable Diego Costa. Next Sunday, it will be interesting to see the dugout “battle” between two quality Argentinean head coaches and two distinct game styles on what will certainly be a very close match with an unpredictable outcome.

Valencia

Stats: W-12 L-13 D-9

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Atlético Madrid

Stats: W-27 L-3 D-4

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Possible Line-ups

Valencia (4-2-3-1) - Guaita - Barragan - Mathieu - Rubén Vezo - Bernat - Oriol Romeu - Keita - Vargas - Parejo - Jonas - P. Alcácer

Atlético Madrid (4-4-2) – Courtois - Juanfran - Miranda - Alderweireld - Insua - Mario Suárez - Gabi - Koke - R. García -  Adrián - Diego Costa

Prediction: Valencia 1 Atlético Madrid 2