Mallorca vs Atletico Madrid

Out-of-form Atletico Madrid take a trip to the Visit Mallorca Estadi to meet Mallorca in the ultimate La Liga round ahead of the World Cup break.

Keen to solidify their position in mid-table comforts on the back of three unbeaten La Liga matches (W2, D1), Mallorca will take the field in high spirits, looking to take another big scalp. After taking down the likes of Valencia and Villarreal on their last two league travels, ‘Los Piratas’ will hope to translate their impressive away form to home turf. It may sound somewhat surprising, yet only 31% of Mallorca’s total La Liga points this season have come at home (5/16). Indeed, barring a 1-0 win over newly-promoted Almeria in mid-September, Javier Aguirre’s men have won none of their five remaining home league outings in 2022/23 (D2, L3), averaging just 0.6 goals per game across those five fixtures. But Mallorca will still be confident about the prospects of another upset after beating Atletico in both La Liga H2Hs last season.

On the other hand, Atletico Madrid cannot catch a break this season. After suffering their first Champions League group stage elimination since 2017/18, ‘Los Rojiblancos’ could only manage an underwhelming 1-1 home draw with 10-man Espanyol at the weekend despite unleashing 27 shots on goal. Winless in four competitive matches on the trot (D2, L2), long-serving manager Diego Simeone has found himself under heavy scrutiny ahead of this trip. Playing outside Madrid threatens to intensify the pressure on the Argentine, with his men claiming just one win on their last four La Liga road trips (D2, L1). Unfortunately for Simeone, Atletico’s evenly-balanced H2H record against Mallorca across their five previous top-flight meetings at the Visit Mallorca Estadi (W2, D1, L2) doesn’t sound promising.