Atletico Madrid vs Real Betis

Atletico Madrid and Real Betis will lock horns at the Metropolitano Stadium in a massive La Liga showdown this weekend.

La Liga top-four hopefuls Atletico Madrid were building a head of steam with three consecutive league wins by an aggregate score of 10-1 before March’s international break stopped them in their tracks. Atletico’s noticeable resurgence after the World Cup has seen only leaders Barcelona (31) take more La Liga points than ‘Los Colchoneros’ (27) since the competition restarted in December 2022. On top of that, they’ve been the most prolific La Liga side in that span, with 21 goals. After moving six points clear of fifth-placed Betis, ‘Los Rojiblancos’ could put clear daylight between the sides with a win here. That is somewhat expected, considering they’ve only lost one of their 20 meetings with Betis in La Liga under Diego Simeone (W15, D4) and are unbeaten against them at home since 2011.

Meanwhile, visiting Real Betis eked out a 1-0 home triumph over Mallorca on the stroke of the international break, taking their unbeaten run in La Liga to six matches (W4, D2), last enjoying a longer undefeated streak in the competition in April 2021. But avoiding defeat at the Metropolitano Stadium has proved a Herculean task for Betis in the past decade, as witnessed by their underwhelming return of one point from their last nine La Liga visits to Atletico (D1, L8). By contrast, Manuel Pellegrini’s side had won three consecutive away league fixtures on the trot before being held to a 1-1 draw at Villarreal on their most recent top-flight travel. Interestingly, all six Betis’ away league games in 2023 have been decided by a margin of under 1.5 goals, highlighting the potential for a closely-contested encounter.