Mallorca vs Atl. Madrid prediction: SPAIN: LaLiga betting tips on match 2024-05-03 19:00.
[p]Mallorca have gone backwards during Javier Aguirre’s second full season in charge, and the Mexican acknowledged that they still may not yet have enough points in the bag to guarantee survival. After a 1-1 draw at fellow strugglers Cádiz last round, the Pirates remained just six points ahead of the drop zone, and with Aguirre’s contract expiring in July, there should be no shortage of motivation to again challenge Atlético Madrid.[/p]
[p]The home side have been surprisingly competitive in this fixture since returning to the top-flight, even treating their fans to 1-0 wins in each of their last two home meetings. Despite losing the reverse fixture 1-0 at the Metropolitano earlier this season, Mallorca have had their moments of joy when hosting highly credentialed clubs this season, defeating Girona (1-0) in early March and holding both Barcelona (2-2) and Athletic Club (0-0) to stalemates.[/p]
[p]Atlético are enjoying a six-point buffer of their own, opening up a gap to fifth-placed Athletic Club with a crucial 3-1 home win against them to likely ensure they’ll participate in a 12th consecutive UEFA Champions League next season. Head coach Diego Simeone praised the defensive unit for bouncing back from an embarrassing 2-0 loss to Alavés and the five goals leaked to Borussia Dortmund across two Champions League matches, but is still longing for their first clean sheet in 14 competitive outings.[/p]
[p]It’s just as well they remain a formidable force at the Metropolitano, because their travels have been miserable of late. Across all competitions, Atlético’s only away victory since late January came at Villarreal (D2, L6), and they were even held scoreless on five occasions.[/p]
[p]Players to watch: Back on the scoresheet, Vedat Muriqi is primed to complete a hat-trick of scoring appearances at home to Atlético after delivering both goals in Mallorca’s two H2H 1-0 home wins. Antoine Griezmann has just two goals from 15 games against Mallorca, but one came in the previous meeting.[/p]
[p]Hot streak: Atlético Madrid did not win any of their last 11 La Liga away games by a 2+ goal margin.[/p]