Atletico Madrid vs Deportivo Alaves

Atletico Madrid will be looking to solidify their position in the La Liga top-four race when they encounter relegation-battling Deportivo Alaves at the Estadio Wanda Metropolitano.

Atletico Madrid went into March’s international break in high spirits, having ousted Manchester United from the Champions League round of 16 whilst racking up a five-game winning streak in La Liga. Diego Simeone’s reputation as a ‘park-the-bus’ manager doesn’t hold water anymore, as ‘Los Rojiblancos’ boast the division’s third-best scoring record this season (53 goals), while they’ve netted 2+ goals in four of their last five La Liga outings. Before slumping to an underwhelming 1-0 defeat in the reverse fixture, Atletico had gone unbeaten in 12 consecutive top-flight meetings with Alaves (W8, D4), which builds a strong case for swift revenge. What’s more, the reigning Spanish champions boast a 91% unbeaten ratio in home La Liga H2Hs (W8, D2, L1), winning each of their last four such fixtures.

Meanwhile, Deportivo Alaves head into proceedings winless in five La Liga games on the trot (D2, L3), as their hopes of ensuring survival hang by a thread. Sat five points adrift of 17th-placed Cadiz, ‘El Glorioso’ have won a league second-low five (17%) La Liga matches this season (D7, L17), while no team has scored fewer top-flight goals than them (23) thus far. Indeed, Jose Luis Mendilibar’s men have failed to get on the scoresheet twice across their last three away league fixtures, which has been the case in three of their previous four top-flight visits to Wanda Metropolitano. Despite suffering 17 defeats from their opening 29 La Liga matches (59%), it may not be as ominous as it sounds, as the last time they had 17+ top-flight defeats, they avoided relegation back in 2017/18.