Almeria vs Atl. Madrid prediction: SPAIN: LaLiga betting tips on match 2024-02-23 20:00.
Last-placed AlmerĂa will have received some much-needed confidence from going two La Liga games undefeated for the first time this season. The first of those saw them hold Athletic Club scoreless (0-0), a notable improvement on the 3-0 loss in the first H2H. They then followed that up with a 1-1 draw against relegation rivals Granada last weekend.
While there are signs of steady improvement, the 1-1 stalemate at Granada was another missed opportunity to make up ground on their nearest competitors. Furthermore, the home side is still heading towards recording perhaps the worst La Liga campaign in history and remain winless across the entry of this league season (D8, L17).
Opponents Atlético Madrid secured an unremarkable 2-1 win in the previous meeting between the two sides and come into this game with patchy recent form, winning just one of their past five competitive matches after losing at Inter in midweek (D1, L3). Their one win came in the last La Liga round as they blew Las Palmas away with a standout 5-0 victory to maintain their loose grip on fourth place.
If they are to miss the top four come the season’s end, it’ll likely be because of their poor output on the road. AtlĂ©tico lost five of their last seven La Liga games away from home (W1, D1), and whilst the majority of them were against fellow top-half clubs rather than the likes of AlmerĂa, their season La Liga away record as pre-match favourites (W4, D1, L4) shows how they’ve been nowhere near ruthless enough away from Metropolitano.
Players to watch: AlmerĂa’s only goalscorer in the reverse H2H, LĂ©o BaptistĂŁo is set to make a timely return from suspension. Marcos Llorente grabbed a first-half double against Las Palmas and has never lost a professional club game when scoring (W25, D4).
Hot stat: AtlĂ©tico’s only league win away to AlmerĂa from seven visits was by a single-goal margin in 2014/15 (D4, L2).