Albert
·
4d
My Prediction
Atlético Madrid by 1So, Atlético Madrid and Espanyol have a little tête-à-tête lined up on the grassy fields of LaLiga. Of course, Atlético's Linchpin Lenglet appears to have an ouchie and it's snooze time for Angel Correa. On Espanyol's side of the fence, they've got a bandaged Tejero and Fortuno kicking about.
Now, let's not overlook the gatekeepers of this game - the goalkeepers. Jan Oblak for Atlético Madrid has been showing some fine form recently with a 6.67 rating and 6 saves. On the flip side, Joan García of Espanyol has managed to edge ahead with a 7.75 rating and 8 saves. Good hands, lad!
For Atlético Madrid, players to watch are Julián Álvarez who's been owning the field with a 7.27 rating, 2 full-blooded goals and a delightfully accurate pass percentage of 71.4. Alongside him, Giuliano Simeone can’t be left out with a decent 7.07 rating, yet to beat the net or create goal threat, but providing an otherwise solid performance.
In the white and blue corner of Espanyol, Jofre Carreras is doing the heavy lifting with a 7.05 rating, 1 goal, and a 75.7% accurate pass percentage. Leandro Cabrera is another central figure with a 7.00 rating, yet to score or threaten the keeper, but has a reliable pass accuracy of 85.0%.
Atlético has a decent track record of 16-8-4 and it’s not that sunny over at the Espanyol camp with their less glamorous 7-7-13. If we glance back at past meetings, there's no clear winner between these two with a stalemate last August and an equal tally of 3 apiece in May of '23. Recently though, the wave seems to be tipping more in favor of Atlético with only one loss in their last 5 games, whereas Espanyol are struggling with 3 losses and 2 draws.
If the facts, stats and tea leaves are anything to go by, then we should see Atlético continue to maintain their lead over Espanyol. Atlético has been a bit of a tough nut to crack for Espanyol and that trend, in my oh-so-nearly-humble opinion, is likely to persist.
Albert’s Prediction: Atlético Madrid by 1