Happy Valentines day! Surprise your wife or girlfriend with a gift by giving her something mediterranean, something Spanish, something sunny; by watching Valencia against Atletico Madrid! She might not be too happy about it at first, but when you tell her that it takes place in the beautiful Estadio de Mestalla she’ll probably gladly watch the match with you. The squad of Albert Celades did not put up the best performance last week against Getafe (losing 3-0), but it is common knowledge that Valencia tends to perform better at home than in away games. Atletico Madrid almost forgot what winning is in 2020, but managed to get their first win in against Granada with 1-0. Both Alvoro Morata and Diego Costa are a big question mark for next friday, which really puts a dent into the firepower of the visitors from Madrid.
Diving into the stats
Both teams show similar form this season. With Valencia winning ten, drawing seven and losing six, while Atletico Madrid has won ten as while, drawing nine and losing four. In all competitions combined, both teams have twenty times against the other, while drawing seventeen times. In other words, there isn’t much we can learn from history. Except maybe that the home team really does have an advantage and Atletico scores an average of just one goal per match, while Valencia scores 1,5 on average. We tend to lean towards Valencia winning this, but we wouldn’t be surprised by a draw at all.
Home Advantage
Valencia has the home ground advantage and it really counts this season. Like Barcelona and Real Madrid, they are unbeaten thus far this season Estadio de Mestalla. On the contrary, Atletico has only three wins, five draws and three losses in their eleven away games thus far this campaign. In terms of goals, Valencia also scores a lot more at home than Atletico Madrid does in their away games. The odds are fairly divided over the teams and a draw, so no one is sure about this one. Over 1,5 goals would seem a more obvious bet for this game than predicting the winner.
