Espanyol vs Atletico Madrid 04/05/19

4 May 2019

Atletico Madrid head to the RCDE Stadium to tackle an unpredictable Espanyol side having stretched their winning run to four games with a narrow 1-0 home win over Real Valladolid last time out.

The hosts are masters of their destiny as they need to pick up just one point in the last three La Liga games to mathematically secure a top-flight status regardless of other results. Although unbeaten in their previous six LL outings, the Periquitos have pulled off two wins in that period (W2, D4), with three of those draws ending with the identical 1-1 scoreline. Espanyol’s inability to keep a clean sheet has seen them concede at least one goal in 16 of 18 LL games in 2019 although they’ve allowed over 1.5 match goals in the league ‘just’ six times since the turn of the year. Rubi’s men have been struggling for consistency lately, clinching two wins in their last six LL home games (W2, D3, L1), with Espanyol conceding precisely one goal per match across all of those clashes.

With three league fixtures left to go, the visitors are left with no chances of overthrowing Barcelona, but they are likely to finish second ahead of city rivals Real Madrid. Los Colchoneros have gone from strength to strength in La Liga ever since a 2-0 away loss to Barcelona, putting together four straight league wins although three of those games have been settled by a narrow one-goal margin. However, Los Rojiblancos have endured mixed fortunes in their last seven LL road games (W4, L3). Interestingly, Diego Simeone’s players have struggled to find the net in all three of those failures while they’ve defeated their rivals to nil in all four triumphs in that period. Unsurprisingly, just two of Atletico’s nine LL away games in 2019 have featured over 2.5 goals, while only one saw both teams to score.