Atletico Look to Extend Their Unbeaten Run Over Deportivo

Deportivo La Coruna arrive in Madrid on Saturday without a league win in their last five matches. A run of draws and defeats has left them ninth in the table on 11 points from nine games, while Atletico Madrid sit second on 22 points and have won all five of their recent La Liga outings.

Atletico’s home momentum

Atletico have been at their most dangerous in front of their own supporters. They have won three of their four home league matches this season and have not lost at the Metropolitano. Across their last five games they have scored 12 goals and conceded only two, a defensive record that has kept them firmly in the race near the top.

Deportivo have struggled to find a rhythm on their travels. They have scored seven times in four away league games this season, and their overall tally of 13 goals and 12 conceded tells the story of a side that has been hard to beat but rarely convincing.

Atletico’s grip on this fixture

Atletico’s record against Deportivo is the storyline to watch. In the last five meetings, Atletico have won four and drawn one, and they have not been beaten. Their most recent meeting came in the Copa del Rey in January, when a 1-0 win at Deportivo’s ground kept that run intact.

The pattern is familiar. Atletico scored in every one of those five matches, while Deportivo found the net only once, in a 1-1 draw in March 2017. Atletico kept a clean sheet in four of the five games, and the only goal Deportivo have managed in that stretch came when they salvaged a point.

Injury problems on both sides

Atletico will be without Koke and C. Romero, both sidelined by muscle injuries, and Lee Kang-In is a doubt with a similar problem. Deportivo face a much longer list of absences: P. Aubameyang (knee), N. Carrillo (muscle), M. Casado (collarbone), Z. Eddahchouri (wrist) and B. Ede (hamstring) are all missing.

Our prediction

PreviaXI’s model favours Atletico, and the football reasons are clear. Atletico are the stronger side at home, they have conceded only twice in their last five matches, and they have a history of getting the better of Deportivo without giving them much room. Deportivo’s wide list of absences makes it harder for them to create chances away from home, so the most likely outcome is a narrow Atletico win, with the home side controlling much of the match and needing only one goal to take the points.

Atletico Madrid 1-0 Deportivo La Coruna