Atletico Madrid vs Las Palmas Predictions, Betting Tips and Match Previews

This is perhaps the worst spell Diego Simeone has gone through since he took over at Atletico Madrid and transformed them into a European football powerhouse. Monday’s 3-0 defeat at Villarreal has all but killed off their title challenge and it’s not even Christmas. They’ve lost 4 of their last 7 league games having lost just 6 times in all of last season and they’ve failed to score in 4 of their last 5, so it seems like they are having problems at both ends of the pitch right now.

However, this might just be the kind of game that suits them. They only really run into trouble at home when they come up against sides that are very good on the break such as Real Madrid or when they face sides that park the bus and are good at doing it. Las Palmas are an attacking side and really aren’t suited to just putting men behind the ball and keeping things tight. Both teams have scored in 86% of their away fixtures this season in matches that have produced 3.57 goals per game. Therefore, it’s normally an open affair when they play and although they will try and adapt their style a bit here, we should still see a relatively open game by the standards of the Vicente Calderon.

That should suit the hosts and particularly their forwards who thrive when they have more space to run into. When Atleti have had difficult spells in recent seasons it’s normally Antoine Griezmann who gets them out of it. He’s on a rare goal drought but is too good a player for that to go on for long and sooner or later will put in a big performance, so backing Griezmann to score 2 or more at 3/1 could be worth a flutter here.

Certainly there is potential for goals in this match. There have been over 2.5 goals in 71% of Las Palmas away games this term and 57% of Atleti home games. The Gran Canarians are a lively side but have lost 57% of their away games and are averaging just 0.71 points per game on their travels. Therefore, even a below par Atleti should get the job done and backing Atletico Madrid to win & over 2.5 goals at 4/5 looks a decent bet.