Granada vs Atletico Madrid Predictions

Atletico Madrid have been as solid and reliable as ever so far this season with just one defeat suffered from 13 league outings, but a tally of six draws means that Los Rojiblancos are still playing catch-up with likely title rivals Barcelona and Real Madrid who are both a point clear with a game in hand.

Diego Simeone’s men will get the chance to leapfrog Barca next weekend when they entertain the champions at Wanda Metropolitano, but they must first take care of Granada at Los Carmenes this Saturday. With newly promoted Nazaries now struggling after a fine start to life in La Liga, we’re backing Atleti to bag the three points they need to stay in touch at the top of the table.

After a huge overhaul in personnel during the summer, Atleti began the campaign clinically with three consecutive victories; however old frustrations soon resurfaced for Diego Simeone and his team.

Atleti failed too often to see off inferior opposition last term which is why they wound up as distant runners-up to Barcelona, and the same can be said for the majority of their last ten matches. Atleti have amassed a mediocre haul of 15 points in that period which is more akin to mid-table form, and they simply need to get into the winning habit more regularly to seriously challenge this season.

Fortunately for Los Rojiblancos, Barcelona and Real Madrid have also dropped their fair share of points thus far, meaning they are in touching distance of top spot heading into Matchday 14.

This Saturday’s game at Los Carmenes is certainly a must win for Atleti though with a clash against Barca next up, and Simeone’s side should secure the points based on the difference in quality between the sides and Granada’s recent results.

Nazaries made a cracking start to the season following promotion from Segunda last term and briefly led the way a few weeks ago after a run of four wins and a draw from five matches.

Diego Martinez’ charges have dropped off quite dramatically since though and they head into this daunting fixture on the back of three straights defeats after going down 2-0 to Valencia at Mestalla before the international break.

Granada have shown themselves to be a highly capable outfit overall at Los Carmenes with four wins posted from six including a 2-0 win against Barca in late September, but it’s asking a lot of Nazaries to get anything from this contest based on recent evidence.

So we fancy Atleti to come through this at a shade of odds-on, but as typically the way with the visitors the margin of victory should be slender.

Half of Atleti’s wins this term have been by a single goal, whilst they have scored an average of just 1.15 goals per game. Simeone’s side do have the best defence in La Liga though with just eight conceded and seven clean sheets recorded, so a 0-1 scoreline appeals here – especially considering that both of Granada’s home defeats have been by the odd goal.