Malaga vs Atlético Madrid Prediction, Betting Tips & Preview

Preview

Joel Amorim Dec 19, 2015 @ 12:22 am

Next Sunday, 20th of December 2015, Atlético Madrid will travel to Andalusia to go head-to-head with Málaga CF at La Rosaleda for Round 16 of the Spanish Liga BBVA.

Atlético Madrid are once again living the dream at La Liga. After a somewhat unconvincing and shaky start, Los Colchoneros pulled ranks and embarked on fantastic undefeated run since the beginning of October. A defeat at El Madrigal against Villarreal and another one four days later at Vicente Calderón against SL Benfica for the UEFA Champions League, were the wake up call for Diego Simeone’s men, who are currently on a fifteen competitive matches run without a single defeat.

Last weekend, Atlético clawed once again the three points when they hosted the surprising Athletic Bilbao. The home side won the match by 2-1 with goals by the usual suspect Antoine Griezmann and by young Spanish midfielder Saul Niguez. It was the Frenchman’s eighth goal of the season and he currently is the team’s top scorer.

In the middle of the week, Los Colchoneros hosted Reus Deportiu at Vicente Calderón for the second-leg of the 1/16 finals of the Copa del Rey and ended up victorious once again, although by a narrow one goal margin. A single goal by Thomas Teye, early after the break, was enough for increasing Altético’s first-leg advantage and to secure them a place in the next stage of the competition.

The Colombian sharpshooter Jackson Martinez is back in training and he is available for next Sunday’s match. Tiago, on the other hand, is still undergoing treatment for his broken leg and he will miss out there.

As for Málaga, the Andalusia team is having a somewhat bumpy start so far this season, but they remain, nevertheless, undefeated in their last three La Liga matches.

Last weekend, Málaga clawed a vital win on their travel to Vallecas where they defeated Rayo Vallecano by 2-1. A late goal by the 25-year old Croatian forward Duje Cop allowed Los Boquerones to leave Madrid with the three points on their bags and to change places with Rayo at the league table.

Despite the positives, Málaga were pushed out of the Copa del Rey in the middle of the week after losing once again to second tier side CD Mirandés. Javi Gracia’s men were surprised at home by a mighty Liga Adelante’s opponent thus failing to secure a place in the next stage of the tournament.

Málaga

Stats: W-1 L-2 D-2

Recent Form - LWDLD

Atlético Madrid

Stats: W-5 L-0 D-0

Recent Form - WWWWW

Possible Line-ups Málaga (4-2-3-1) – Kameni - Rosales - Albentosa - Weligton - Torres - Filipenko - Fornals - Duda - Amrabat - Carlos - Cop

Atlético Madrid (4-4-2) - Oblak - Juanfran - Filipe Luis - Giménez - Godín - Koke - Gabi - Carrasco - Saul Niguez - Griezmann - Vietto

Injury List / Suspended Players Málaga 

Flávio Ferreira (inj) Atlético Madrid 

Tiago (inj) Head-to-head matches:

League Positions