Real Madrid vs Atletico Madrid

The 169th edition of the Madrid derby pits bitter rivals Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid against each other at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu.

‘Los Merengues’ have hit the purple patch since being held to an underwhelming scoreless home draw to Osasuna in late October, winning their last nine matches in all competitions since, including a 2-0 Champions League win over Inter Milan in midweek. In La Liga alone, Real Madrid have won their last six fixtures on the trot to move five points clear of second-placed Sevilla, notably scoring 2+ goals on five occasions in the process. Another successful weekend must be looming in the forefront of the home team faithful’s minds, with ‘Los Blancos’ going unbeaten in five consecutive La Liga home H2Hs (W2, D3), keeping a clean sheet in each of the last three in a row. Another shutout would see Real record four top-flight home blank sheets against Atletico for the first time.

On the other hand, Atletico Madrid earned a massive 3-1 away win at Porto in midweek Champions League action to squeeze into the competition’s knock-outs. However, ‘Los Rojiblancos’ suffered a frustrating 2-1 home defeat to Mallorca last time out, seeing their seven-game unbeaten La Liga streak come to a halt (W4, D3). Sat ten points adrift of top-placed Real, Diego Simeone’s men cannot afford a slip-up here if they are to retain their hopes of defending the La Liga title this season. Given Atletico’s reputation as a low-scoring side, it comes a bit surprising that six of their seven away league matches this season have witnessed 3+ goals and both teams scoring. Topically, their last three La Liga travels have seen both sides finding the net in fixtures garnering over 3.5 total goals.