Atletico Madrid travel to Vitoria on Saturday, in real need of a better performance as they target their first win of the new season in La Liga.
They won’t be expecting too many favours from Alaves, who have a strong recent record in this fixture. The Basque side started the season with a 2-1 home win against newly promoted Levante, but have since slipped to a 1-0 defeat away to Real Betis.
The concern was that they may struggle to score goals this season. That remains a potential issue, although they did add a new striker last week, with Lucas Boye joining for €5.5m from Granada.
Atletico Madrid did their business earlier in the summer, but they haven’t got the fast start they were hoping for. Diego Simeone would have seen positives in their opening game, but a late collapse saw them lose 2-1 away to Espanyol. They again started well against Elche at home on matchday two, but didn’t impress after Alexander Sorloth’s early goal in a 1-1 draw.
There were a few whistles after that match, so the onus is on Simeone to find the right structure to get the best out of the fresh talent he has at his disposal.
How the bookies view it: Atleti backed to respond well
Atletico Madrid are the 4/5 favourites to win this game with Boylesports, despite their unimpressive start. If you don’t like those odds, backing Alaves at 16/5, or the draw at 12/5 may look more tempting.
Recent head-to-head: Not a happy hunting ground for Los Rojiblancos
This hasn’t been a great fixture for Atleti in recent years. They’ve failed to score on each of their last three visits to Mendizorroza, losing two of those games. That record alone suggests there may be value in backing Alaves or draw in the double-chance market with Boylesports at 20/21.
Players to watch: Vicente key for the hosts
Chacho Coudet is still looking for the right solution in the striker role for Alaves. However, he has full faith in his right winger Carlos Vicente. The 26-year-old started all but three games in La Liga last term, finishing with five goals and five assists.
Predicted Lineups
New signing Boye is injured and unavailable for the home team. Nikola Maras and Hugo Novoa are also rated doubtful.
The visitors are missing their standout summer buy Alex Baena to an injury. Defender Jose Maria Gimenez will also be absent.
Alaves: Sivera, Diarra, Tenaglia, Garces, Jonny, Blanco, Ibanez, Alena, Guridi, Vicente, Martinez.
Atletico Madrid: Oblak, Ruggeri, Hancko, Le Normand, Llorente, Almada, Gallagher, Cardoso, Simeone, Sorloth, Alvarez.
Anything else catch the eye?
Having gone nearly five years without a goal on this ground, and given their failure to score more than once so far this term, backing there to be under 1.5 Atletico Madrid goals at 8/11 looks good with Boylesports here.
You can also get odds of 8/13 for the match to serve up under 2.5 goals in total. That also looks a decent pick, as this is not an Alaves side that is blessed with many goal threats, after they lost last season’s top scorer Kike Garcia in the summer.
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