Atletico Madrid host Barcelona in a Spanish La Liga fixture at the Estadio Wanda Metropolitano with both teams struggling to find their best form. Aleti will be banking on their solid home form and with Barca looking a shadow of themselves, the champions will be confident of coming out on top.
Atletico Madrid suffered their first La Liga defeat of the season after going down 1-0 to Alaves last time out. They made a swift return to winning ways in the UEFA Champions League, claiming a crucial 2-1 victory at AC Milan with Antoine Griezmann and Luis Suarez getting their goals.
It has not been the smoothest title defence for Atletico Madrid with the last two matches highlighting their inconsistent form this season. Despite their erratic start to the season, the champions are just three points off the pace having claimed four wins from their seven matches this term.
Atletico Madrid are solid at home and are unbeaten in their last 11 matches across all competitions, claiming seven wins in that run. Diego Simeone's men have one of the best defences in La Liga this season and have kept clean sheets in three of their last four home matches across all competitions.
Barcelona appeared to ease some of the pressure on manager Ronald Koeman after claiming a 3-0 victory over Levante in their previous La Liga fixture. However, that pressure returned in spades after a disappointing 3-0 defeat to Benfica in the Champions League.
Beyond the Champions League result, the nature of Barcelona’s performance left a lot to be desired as they failed to register a single shot on target in Portugal. They have now claimed just one win from their last five matches across all competitions and are currently outside the top four in La Liga.
Although Barcelona are still unbeaten in La Liga this season, they are yet to face any of the big teams with their numerous problems likely to be exploited by the top sides. One major issue for the Catalans is a lack of cutting edge in attack having failed to score in three of their last five matches across all competitions.
How the bookies view it
Atletico Madrid have the edge among the bookies at 24/23 with SBK, who are also offering 16/5 for a Barcelona victory. A draw is set at odds of 51/20 by novibet.
Recent head to head
Atletico Madrid are unbeaten in their last four matches against Barcelona. The Champions earned a 1-0 victory in last season’s fixture at the Estadio Wanda Metropolitano.
Players to watch
As always in matches like these, Atletico Madrid’s backline will be worth keeping an eye on having kept clean sheets in three of their last four matches. Jose Gimenez and Mario Hermoso should continue their partnership at centre-back and will be targeting another clean sheet at 13/8 with Paddy Power.
At the other end of the pitch, Atletico Madrid have a couple of ex-Barcelona strikers who will be looking to get one over on their former club. Luis Suarez is priced at 29/20 by Unibet to score anytime while Antoine Griezmann is valued at 11/5 by SBK in the same market.
Anything else catch the eye?
Given Atletico Madrid’s solid defence and with Barcelona looking lethargic in attack, BTTS NO could be considered at 21/20 with BetVictor. The Champions earned a win to nil at the Wanda Metropolitano last season and could be set for a repeat at 5/2 with Skybet.
Atletico Madrid could also be tipped as the only team to score at 23/10 with William Hill.
This La Liga match between Atletico Madrid and Barcelona will be played on Oct 2, 2021 and kick off at 20:00. Check below for our tipsters best Atletico Madrid vs Barcelona prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
