Barcelona vs Atletico Madrid Prediction & Betting Tips - LaLiga

Prediction published on 06/04/2021, 04:44  by Daniel Ngulu | Modified on 06/05/2021 at 06:01 in LaLiga Predictions

A week ago, Barcelona missed a golden chance to go top of the La Liga standings. Now they have the chance as they host league leaders Atletico Madrid in the 35th round of matches. Barcelona go to the game placed third with 74 points, two behind Atletico Madrid. The hosts have no clean sheet in the last four matches, and that will remain an area of concern but they’ve been very lethal in attack. In the last five matches, Lionel Messi and Antoine Griezmann have been explosive, jointly scoring 12 of the 15 goals the team has managed in that run. Each of their last five league matches has yielded over 2.5 goals, and Barcelona have no clean sheet in the process, conceding twice in four. In their last home game, Barcelona crumbled in the second half to lose 2-1 to Granada, a result that denied them the chance to go top of the standings. Otherwise, they’ve had a fine run at home; before that loss, they had gone unbeaten in 13 home matches. At home this season, Barcelona have suffered just two losses, and won 11.

Atletico Madrid beat Barcelona 1-0 November; that was their third straight unbeaten game against Barca. They head here having escaped with three points against Elche in their last game. Fidel Chaves missed a last minute penalty that would have canceled out Marcos Llorente’s 23rd minute opener. That came right after Barcelona’s fall against Granada and they will hope luck smiles their way a third time this Saturday. With three wins and a draw in their last five La Liga matches, Atletico can feel confident going to Camp Nou and three clean sheets in the last four matches also points to an improving defence. They have struggled defensively in their recent matches, keeping just six clean sheets in 18 league matches. They remain the best defensively in the league though. The narrow escape against Elche gave Atletico a first away win in five matches; they had two losses in the earlier four, and going to this game, they haven’t scored more than a goal in the last five away league matches.