Atletico Madrid vs Cadiz Preview

Atletico Madrid will return to La Liga action this Sunday when they take on Cadiz at the Wanda Metropolitana.

Diego Simeone’s side find themselves as part of a group of teams chasing surprise early leaders Girona ahead of the eighth round of league games.

They, however, enter this game in high spirits after their 3-1 victory over arch-rivals Real Madrid last weekend, backed up by a routine 2-0 success over Osasuna in midweek.

Their recent wins kept them in touch with the top four despite having played a game less and so they can shoot themselves back into the Champions League spots if they win this game and other results go their way.

Given their form at home, they will be confident of winning here. The hosts have won each of their last eleven La Liga matches at the Civitas Metropolitano – their longest such run since a 14-game streak between May 2012 and February 2013.

That sequence includes a thumping 5-1 victory over Cádiz in May, part of a six-match winning streak in home head-to-head meetings, three of which came with a clean sheet.

Such a record means the visitors travel to Madrid as outsiders and with pressure to perform. They have made a solid start to their La Liga campaign (W2, D3, L2), but a midweek 0-0 stalemate with Rayo Vallecano underlined their biggest issue at this stage, with only newly-promoted Las Palmas scoring fewer than Cádiz’s six goals.

Avoiding another relegation battle will be the ultimate aim for Sergio González’s men, as they only finished two points above the drop zone last season.

Winning here will require a miracle for Cádiz, who, since beating Valencia in their first La Liga trip of the calendar year, have won just once away from the Nuevo Mirandilla (D5, L8).

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

Spanish Primera Liga Table