Atletico Madrid are second in the table in La Liga, but they’re coming off a tough Champions League loss to Chelsea. They’ll try to get back on track on Saturday in a tricky road trip to Leganes, who are off to a great start.
What To Know About Atletico Madrid
Atletico won 2-0 at home against Sevilla in their last La Liga match as Yannick Carrasco and Antoine Griezmann scored after halftime to keep their team in the running with Barcelona at the top of the table. However, they then lost a 1-0 lead to lose to Chelsea in the Champions League on Wednesday due to a late winner, and that could leave a bad taste in their mouths. Griezmann scored again, this time from the penalty spot, but overall he was one of many Atletico players that didn’t do their job against Chelsea. When your best player is a fullback in Juanfran, you have problems and if Atletico continue to play like that in the Champions League, they won’t make it out of the group stages.
What To Know About Leganes
Leganes are seventh in the La Liga table after a 2-0 win at Las Palmas as Claudio Beauvue netted just after halftime, and then Javier Eraso added a late injury-time winner to get all three points for his team. Leganes was promoted last season to La Liga and ended up staving off relegation by finishing 17th, but they’re sitting high in the table thanks to a defense that has allowed just three goals in their first six games, Martin Mantovani, Diego Rico and Joseba Zaldua are the mainstays of a sharp defense in front of goalkeeper Ivan Cuellar, but a lack of goals could wind up doing them in as Leganes have scored just five goals and no player has more than one. It is all fine and good to have a solid defense, especially as a smaller team, but if Leganes are going to avoid another relegation battle, they have to find goals from somewhere.
Outlook
Atletico are the favorites on the road at -182, while Leganes is rated at +650 and a draw comes in at +275. These two teams met for the first time last season when Leganes got promoted, and they held Atletico to a 0-0 draw at home in their first meeting. However, two goals from Fernando Torres gave Atletico a 2-0 win at home and all three points in the return fixture, and he might get the start this weekend as Atletico needs some sort of spark. Griezmann has been off and on this season, and maybe he is distracted with ongoing transfer rumors that have been happening since the summer, and then Diego Costa will be coming to Atletico in January. A point would be great for Leganes because they probably know they’re not going to be a seventh-place team this season; anywhere from 12th to 17th would be just fine for them. They get a tired Atletico team this weekend at home, and a point should be their objective.
La Liga Betting: Draw
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