La Ligo tonight

After much consideration ive decided to take the odds on offer for an Atletico Madrid win tonight

Atletico Madrid V Valencia

Atletico take on Valencia tonight and its clear that these are two teams heading in different directions. The hosts are in great form at the moment - they've only lost one of their last six league games, and are scoring for fun in La Liga with only Sevilla having netted more on their own patch. 24 goals in 9 home games is an impressive stat and they have a strong squad to chose from tonight with the exception of Zé Castro and José Manuel Jurado. Giorgios Seitaridis and Thiago Motta are all still recovering from long term injuries.

Valencia are a club with a lot of off field problems at the moment. Koeman doesnt appear to be the most popular coach and seems to have rubbed a lot of people up the wrong way. Valencia's away record still reads ok with 5 wins and they have more points gathered away then at the Mestalla where they are traditionally a tough team to beat. On closer look though this is their first visit to a team inside the top 5 and with a difficult trip to Villareal next time out, their away record may be dented by then.
Koeman has confirmed that new signing Ever Banega will travel with the squad but Miguel, Alexis and Fernando Morientes are all unlikely to take part due to injuries. Manuel Fernandes has been loaned out to Everton.


Verdict

Valencia's main problem has been scoring and have failed to score in five of their last 6 outings, including last Sunday's 0-0 draw with bottom-of-the-league Levante.
Atletico can push on for a win here, I’m not so sure they will keep a clean sheet but they have the necessary firepower to outscore Valencia and record a 3 pointer.

PICK

Atletico Madrid -0.5 (2.03 @ canbet) 5 points