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It has all the makings of a partidazo.
Atlético Madrid and Valencia will get together at A Stadium Called Wanda on Sunday night. This battle of second versus third will likely go a long way toward determining top-three positioning — even with so much of the season still to play. As Barcelona are currently running away with LaLiga, lots has been made of the teams jostling beneath them. A victory either way in this match could have season-long ramifications.
An Atlético win would put them nine points clear of los Che and make Diego Simeone’s team the odds-on favorite to finish runners-up in LaLiga. A Valencia win, however, would grant them some separation from still-sputtering Real Madrid and move them to within three points of los colchoneros — with the head-to-head advantage.
| CONVOCATORIA
— Atlético de Madrid (@Atleti) February 3, 2018
¡Descubre la lista de @Simeone para el #AtletiValencia! #AúpaAtleti pic.twitter.com/t94phwR6xM
| #ATMFLASH
— Atlético de Madrid (@atletienglish) February 3, 2018
@Simeone: "We want to keep on growing as a team every week" #AúpaAtleti #AtletiValencia pic.twitter.com/Ss5sNN9byL
Diego Costa has been given the all-clear after a balky hamstring kept him out of the past two games. Costa will partner Antoine Griezmann — who has scored or assisted in all but one game since the calendar turned to 2018 — as Simeone is expected to roll out an attacking XI. Thomas has been left out (technical decision), and while Filipe Luís is back in training, he hasn’t been declared fit yet.
Possible XI
Oblak; Vrsaljko, Savić, Godín, Lucas; Koke, Saúl, Correa, Carrasco; Griezmann, Costa.
Predicted scoreline
Atlético Madrid 1-1 Valencia.
How to watch
Date: Feb. 4, 2018
Location: Estadio Wanda Metropolitano, Madrid, Spain
Kickoff time: 19:45 CEST, 18:45 GMT/BST, 2:45 p.m. EST, 11:45 a.m. PST
SB Nation opposition blog: N/A
Available TV/streaming: beIN LaLiga, Movistar Partidazo (Spain), Sky Sports Football, Sky Go UK (United Kingdom), beIN Sports USA, beIN Sports en Español, fuboTV (United States), beIN Sports 1 (France), beIN Sports Arabia 3 HD (Saudi Arabia)
For more listings, head over to livesoccertv.com.