Rayo Vallecano vs Atletico Madrid Preview

La Liga resumes on Monday as Rayo Vallecano welcome city rivals and title hopefuls Atletico Madrid to the Campo de Futbol de Vallecas.

The hosts are looking to make it three wins in three games after recording back-to-back wins over Almeria (2-0) and Granada (2-0) in their opening two games.

So they come into this tie sitting in second place in the La Liga table, with the chance of remaining in the top three if they win.

For a team that finished outside the top half last season courtesy of a poor run of form towards the end of the season (W1. L4), starting strongly with two wins and two clean sheets away from home indicates improvement under Francisco Rodriguez.

The Spanish coach will now hope he can keep his side’s brilliant start to the season going as they attempt to end a run of 15 games without a win against Atletico Madrid (D4, L11) in all competitions.

The visitors make the short trip across Madrid in dour mood after recording a drab goalless draw with Real Betis in their last outing. That result followed an opening day 3-1 win over Granada.

Atletico come into this fixture looking to get back to winning ways to keep them firmly planted within the top six places as they attempt to battle for the title this season.

Given their unbeaten record against Vallecano since 2013, Diego Simeone’s side will fancy their chances of getting a good result here. However, Rojiblancos have a poor recent away record in La Liga, winning just one of their last six away league games (D3, L2).

Other fixtures taking place this week in the Spanish Primera Liga:

Spanish Primera Liga Table