Atletico Madrid vs Real Sociedad
It’s ‘as you were’ at the top of the La Liga table after the Barcelona and Atletico face-off ended in a draw, as did Real Madrid’s Sunday night date with Sevilla. So with a full set of fixtures this week Atletico Madrid’s home match against Real Sociedad is as big as it gets.
Only two points separate Diego Simeone’s leaders from Real Madrid and Barcelona and a slip up against Imanol Alguacil’s Sociedad will almost certainly open the door to their rivals, but I’m backing Atleti to pass this test and stay in the box seat.
Talking Points
Atleti still as solid as ever
Much has been written about the impact Luis Suarez has had since his arrival at the Wanda Metropolitano last summer. The Uruguayan’s 19 goals have fired Simeone’s side to the top of the table, while Marcos Llorente has put in a tremendous shift alongside him, scoring 12 goals and making ten assists. But Los Rojiblancos’ strength at the back has been, consistently, a huge factor in their success.
Atleti have conceded the fewest goals in the league, 22 compared with 26 at Real Madrid and 33 at Barcelona. Stefan Savic has been an uncompromising figure at the heart of defence, picking up 13 yellow cards, while Jose Gimenez, one of the most highly rated young defenders in world football, is hopeful of making a start but he will have a late test.
Simeone will be without Thomas Lemar, who aggravated a muscle injury against Barca, but Joao Felix came through without problems and he could support the attack alongside Angel Correa.
Real Sociedad still a threat
Alguacil’s Sociedad made a brilliant start to the campaign, inspired by the signing of David Silva, but an injury to the former Manchester City star slowed their early season momentum and, having ridden high sky until Christmas, Sociedad have drifted to the relative comfort of fifth place and on track for a Europa League place.
The visitors have received a boost with the news that Igor Zubeldia is fit to resume at centre back and Joseba Zaldua should be fit to slot in at right back.
Up front they will pose a threat with Swedish striker Alex Isak already on 14 goals, while Mikel Oyarzabal, with 11 goals and seven assists, has caught the attention of Premier League giants Liverpool. At 24 years of age he’s yet to reach his prime, and a 50m Euros offer might well turn out to be good business.
Three-way battle will go to the last game
The latest La Liga 2021 betting odds have drifted back and forth, backing the Blaugrana until their catastrophic home defeat to Granada last week. That Granada followed that up with a home defeat to Cadiz tells us how bad a result that was for Ronald Koeman’s men and now Atletico Madrid have been re-installed as favourites.
Barcelona are away to Levante on Tuesday night and they follow that up with a home game against Celta Vigo and a trip to Eibar on the final day. Expect three wins from those three, and that is what Atleti need to do. Following this clash with Sociedad Diego Simeone’s team have very winnable games against Osasuna and Real Valladolid to come.
Real Madrid haven’t yet given up but they will rue their lost chance against Sevilla on Sunday night, though they were saved from defeat by a Sevilla own goal deep into stoppage time. Los Blancos crashed out of the Champions League semi-final in an aggregate 3-1 defeat to Chelsea and have their full concentration on the league, but with away games to Granada and Athletic Bilbao and a clash with Villarreal on the final day, Zinedine Zidane’s team arguably has the toughest set of fixtures.
When the next set of La Liga 2021 results are in we’ll know more, but this is a must win game for Atletico.
History
Los Rojiblancos are leading the head to heads with Sociedad by 21 to 17, and they will take comfort from a 2-0 win in December when Mario Hermoso and Marcos Llorente were on target to take Atleti three points clear at the top of the table. Sociedad were in third place at the time and would have been level with Atleti had the result gone the other way.
Current form at 57 per cent is identical for both teams with three wins, two draws and two defeats each over the last seven games.
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