Sure Prediction For Today, Saturday 8th February 2020

As is usually the case between cross-city rivals Real and Atleti, there was little to choose between the two sides in last weekend’s Madrid derby at Santiago Bernabeu, but it was Los Blancos who ultimately emerged victorious after Karim Benzema buried Ferland Mendy’s pinpoint cross ten minutes into the second half.

It marked another frustrating night for Atleti who lost the Supercopa De Espana Final against their main adversaries just last month, and they have since failed to win in La Liga following a 2-0 defeat at Eibar and a 0-0 stalemate at home to Leganes.

It’s simply not good enough for Atleti to be 13 points behind the leaders and effectively beaten out of sight in the title race with 15 games left to play, but Los Colchoneros have only got themselves to blame for coming up short.

They have persistently struggled to score goals and make their dominance count, particularly on the road where they have won just three from 11, netting only eight goals in total.

Nevertheless, it’s probably important for punters not to overreact in the context of this Saturday’s clash at home to Granada. Atleti have still won four from their last six at Wanda and have lost just once at home in La Liga this season, so Diego Simeone’s side are rightful odds-on favourites to land the spoils here on Matchday 23.

And this certainly looks like the ideal fixture for Atleti to rediscover the winning thread. Granada has won their last three matches in all competitions, including a 2-1 Copa Del Rey success over holders Valencia at Los Carmenes in midweek. However their away form has been atrocious throughout the past few months.

Granted, Nazaries have had to endure a mightily tough run of fixtures on the road, with games against the current top five played since October. But they have now lost seven straight matches on their travels following a 2-0 defeat at Sevilla a fortnight ago – the fifth consecutive away game in which Diego Martinez’ charges have failed to score.

That doesn’t bode well for Granada here considering that Atleti has kept clean sheets in six of their 11 home matches this season, and the hosts have conceded just half a dozen goals in total at Wanda.

Atletico Madrid are hardly flavour of the month for punters at the moment, and their sixth-place accurately reflects that Simeone’s current crop are a notch or two below some Atleti teams of the recent past.

Nevertheless, Los Colchoneros should still have the class and guile to find a way through this Granada outfit on Saturday, and it’s a must-win affair for the hosts as they seek to close the three-point gap between themselves and the top four.

Considering Granada’s lengthy away losing streak and failure to score in five on the road, this looks an ideal opportunity for Atleti to get back on track and we’re predicting a ‘Win to Nil’ for Simeone’s men.

Atleti have kept six clean sheets from 11 at Wanda this term, so shutting out this blunt Granada attack should be a relatively straightforward task for Jan Oblak and his back four. We’re also going for a 1-0 correct score in favour of Los Colchoneros, who have averaged exactly one goal per game in La Liga this term. Our prediction is a home win for Atletico Madrid.