Barcelona vs Atletico Madrid predictions: LaLiga betting tips and odds
Barcelona vs Atletico Madrid predictions
Barcelona face a crunch match at the top of LaLiga against Atletico Madrid at the Olympic Stadium on Sunday night (8pm, ITV4).
The Catalan club sit in fourth place in the standings, level on points with third-placed Atletico after 13 games this season. But, both sides are four points behind leaders Real Madrid and second-placed Girona ahead of the weekend.
Barca carry a three-match unbeaten run in LaLiga into the contest since their 2-1 defeat at the hands of Real Madrid in October. Xavi’s men needed a late own goal from Florian Lejeune to earn a share of the spoils against Rayo Vallecano last time out in the league.
They were on point during the week to secure their spot in the last 16 of the Champions League, recording a 2-1 comeback win over Porto. Barca are not firing on all cylinders, but are grinding out results to keep their domestic and European hopes alive.
Atleti also confirmed their place in the Champions League knockout phase with a 3-1 victory over Feyenoord on the road. Diego Simeone’s men have won four on the bounce in all competitions since suffering a 2-1 defeat to Las Palmas.
Momentum is on their side, but UK betting sites have installed Barca as the strong favourites to emerge with the win at the Olympic Stadium. Here are our predictions.
Low scoring game in Barcelona
After a fast start to the campaign, goals have started to dry up for Barcelona. Gone are the free-flowing days of Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar in the final third.
Robert Lewandowski has only scored twice in his last eight games in all competitions, and those strikes came in the same game in a 2-1 win over Alaves at the start of November.
Xavi’s men have not scored more than two goals in a game since beating Celta Vigo 3-2 in September. It is putting pressure on the defence to be resolute, although that too is an issue, keeping only one clean sheet in their last seven.
Barca are going to have to be tactically astute and be clinical with their opportunities against an in-form Atleti.
Simeone’s side have won eight out of their last nine in LaLiga, and have been pragmatic claiming victory in a variety of ways. Antoine Griezmann scored the only goal of the game in a win over Mallorca, which followed a 3-1 triumph over Villarreal.
Barca will make them work harder in the final third and it would not be a surprise to see a game like the two last season, where Xavi’s men recorded 1-0 wins home and away.
Given Barca’s approach and Atleti’s pragmatism to adapt to a battle, we’re backing under 2.5 goals at odds of 11/10 with Betfred.
Barcelona vs Atletico Madrid Tip 1: Under 2.5 goals – 11/10 Betfred
Griezmann to cause a stir against former club?
Griezmann has enjoyed an outstanding season for Atleti in all competitions.
The France international has bagged nine goals in 13 games in LaLiga, although the performances of Jude Bellingham have slightly overshadowed his achievements this term.
Griezmann has been clinical with his left boot and is relishing life under Simeone once again after enduring a tough couple of seasons with Barcelona. Griezmann made 102 appearances for Barca between 2019 and 2021, scoring 35 goals.
His statistics were decent enough, but he failed to hit the heights of his Atleti performances, prompting his return to the Metropolitano. He was off the pace in his first season back but improved last term to score 16 goals in all competitions.
However, this year he has taken his game back to its peak and is only three shy of surpassing his total from the 2022/23 campaign. Griezmann does not have a great record against Barcelona, dating back to 2011 he has six goals in 29 games in all competitions.
His best outing came in the Champions League quarter-finals in 2016 when he scored a match-winning brace.
Given his form and looking at the odds on football betting sites, we’re backing Griezmann to have a decisive impact on the game to score or assist at 11/10 with bet365.
Cards on the agenda?
This fixture used to have a lot of spice in it back when Atletico were on the rise under Simeone.
They’ve still maintained their edge but have been one of the best-behaved teams in LaLiga in the current campaign, accumulating only 25 yellow cards in their 13 games, just a shade under two per match.
Alvaro Morata saw red for Los Rojiblancos against Osasuna earlier in the season, but other than that there have been few complaints regarding their discipline.
Barcelona too have been fairly well behaved, although they’ve accrued 33 yellow cards and a red this term.
Referee Jose Maria Sanchez Martinez has been assigned the fixture as he did last season, where he dished out 12 yellow cards. Atletico picked up eight in the game, so their new-found discipline will be put to the test.
This season Sanchez Martinez has officiated seven LaLiga games and has awarded 33 yellow cards and a red.
The line has been set at 5.5 total cards by Unibet, which would be blown out of the water in the game last term.
But, given the records of the team this season, we’re going to ignore the fiery history and take the under at 10/13 with our final Barcelona vs Atletico Madrid prediction.
Barcelona vs Atletico Madrid Tip 3: Under 5.5 cards – 10/13 Unibet
Simon Sinclair is an experienced sports journalist, who has written for national publications for football, cricket, NFL and many more. He contributes tips on a wide range of sports for The Independent.
