Valencia vs Atletico Madrid

Estadio de Mestalla hosts a handsomely-looking between the two La Liga stalwarts Valencia and Atletico Madrid.

Valencia’s underwhelming record against newly-promoted sides (W2, D1, L3) nearly cost them their La Liga status last term, but they seem to have failed to learn their lesson. Only two weeks after beating Las Palmas 1-0 at home, ‘Los Che’ finished on the receiving end of the same scoreline at Deportivo Alaves on the stroke of the international break. After back-to-back wins to kick things off in 2023/24, Ruben Baraja’s men have lost their last two league fixtures, conceding the opening goal within the first 25 minutes on both occasions. A noticeable dip in form has come at the worst possible moment for Valencia as they gear up for a mammoth task, having failed to beat Atletico Madrid across their last 17 La Liga H2Hs (D6, L11).

In the meantime, Atletico Madrid welcomed the two-week pause in high spirits after demolishing local rivals Rayo Vallecano 7-0 on the road en route to recording the highest winning margin in an away game in their La Liga history. Barring a goalless draw at Real Betis on matchday two, Diego Simeone’s men have won their remaining two La Liga matches this season via multi-goal margins. With a game in hand on all other top-half clubs, ‘Los Rojiblancos’ start this round in fourth, so extending an outstanding eight-game unbeaten top-flight run at Mestalla (W4, D4) will be at the forefront of their minds. Keeping things tight at the back could prove crucial, given that three of their four wins in that run came ‘to nil.’