Athletic Club will host Atletico de Madrid in the fourth round of La Liga on Saturday, 5 September, with the visitors arriving as favourites after a stronger opening to the season. The match at Athletic Club’s home ground is scheduled to kick off at 17:15 Moscow time.
Athletic Club have taken only three points from their first three league matches and sit 12th in the table. Their campaign began with defeats by Sevilla and Barcelona, losing 3-1 and 2-0 respectively, before they responded with a 2-0 victory over Celta Vigo.
Ernesto Valverde’s side also endured a difficult run of results in their final friendly matches before the season started. They were beaten 3-1 by Zaragoza, lost 1-0 to Atalanta and then suffered a 3-1 defeat by Marseille.
Atletico de Madrid have made a more convincing start under Diego Simeone. The capital club have collected seven points and are third in the standings, behind only Barcelona and Real Madrid.
They opened the season with a win over Malaga, followed that by drawing 2-2 with Villarreal, and then defeated Sevilla 3-1 in their third match. Their record of seven goals scored and three conceded gives Atletico de Madrid an impressive goal difference of 7:3.
The contrast between the two teams’ early form has made Atletico de Madrid the bookmakers’ favourites for the fixture. They have won three of their past four matches, while Athletic Club have lost five of their last six.
The most recent meeting between the sides also went Atletico de Madrid’s way, with the Madrid club claiming a 3-2 victory over Athletic Club.
On the available evidence, Atletico de Madrid appear to have the stronger squad and greater momentum heading into the match. The prediction is for a narrow away win, with Atletico de Madrid expected to prevail 1-0.
Match details
The fixture is part of the fourth round of the Spanish championship and will be played on Saturday, 5 September. Kick-off is set for 17:15 Moscow time.
Odds and viewing information
Atletico de Madrid are listed as the favourites by bookmakers. The available information does not specify individual prices for the result or the predicted score.
The match may be available to watch free through bookmakers following quick registration. The listed advertising sources are Winline at winline.ru and Fon.bet at fon.bet.