Atletico Madrid vs Malaga Betting Tips & Predictions

Atletico Madrid got over what looked the biggest hurdle of their run-in when they won 1-0 at Athletic Bilbao on Wednesday night to stay level on points with Barcelona with only 4 games to go, 3 of which are at home. They’ve won 8 of their last 9 league games and had they not conceded 2 late goals at Sporting Gijon in the one game they slipped up in, they’d be top of the league and favourites to win the title. They will have to cope without their first choice centre-backs here but Savic and Hernandez coped pretty well with a testing 2nd half in midweek with Jan Oblak as assured as ever in goal.

Malaga, who have the joint worst goalscoring record in the division aren’t likely to give them such a difficult afternoon but they could still make this tough for Atleti, who they beat 1-0 earlier in the campaign. The Andalusian side have only lost 1 of their last 7 league games but are winless in 4 and needed a late goal to rescue a point at home to Rayo Vallecano in midweek. They are in 9th place and heading for a solid mid-table finish having improved considerably after a poor opening to the season.

Even though Atleti’s defence is depleted this looks like a low-scoring contest. There have been under 2.5 goals in all of Malaga’s last 6 games and they have the best defensive record outside the top four. They will come with a cautious attitude for sure and Atleti have been frustrated into 0-0 draws at home by both Villarreal and Sevilla since the turn of the year. With Torres in form and Griezmann capable of that bit of magic they should be able to sneak a win but it could be tight and backing there to be under 2.5 goals at 5/6 looks the best approach to this one.