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Diego Simeone is hoping his Atlético Madrid team has finally turned a corner ahead of Osasuna’s maiden visit to A Stadium Called Wanda on Saturday night.
A convincing victory over Lokomotiv Moscow on Wednesday brought back positive vibes and elicited a collective sigh of relief as Atlético secured a spot among the Champions League’s last 16.
The holidays are fast approaching and LaLiga is still quite crammed at the top. A run of three wins from 13 games has seen Atleti slip to seventh amongst the madness, but Simeone’s men can get back into the top four with a win over Chimy Ávila’s newly-promoted Osasuna — a side already 10 points clear of the drop.
Possible XI
Oblak; Trippier, Felipe, Giménez, Lodi; Thomas, Herrera, Koke, Saúl; Félix, Morata.
Prediction
2-0 Atlético. The visitors enter this match with just one loss from the past eight and have been pretty solid away from home — in fact, only Atlético and Real Madrid have conceded fewer goals on the road. Atleti have not lost at home to Osasuna this decade and have only been beaten once by this opponent since 2010. That result was a 3-0 hammering on Feb. 23, 2014 — three months before Los Rojiblancos went to Camp Nou and clinched LaLiga.
Ávila is one of LaLiga’s most exciting players and Watford loanee Pervis Estupiñán has been one of the division’s better full backs. Expect a busy day for Kieran Trippier — nearly half of Osasuna’s attacking sequences have originated from his flank. I would also expect another solid performance and a little goal luck for Atlético.
My record on the season 12-10
How to watch
Date Dec. 14, 2019
Location Estadio Wanda Metropolitano, Madrid, Spain
Kickoff time 9:00 p.m. CET, 8:00 p.m. GMT, 3:00 p.m. EST, 12:00 p.m. PST
Available TV/streaming Movistar LaLiga (Spain), LaLiga TV (United Kingdom), beIN Sports (United States), Eleven Sports 1 (Portugal), Sportklub 1 (Slovenia), Stöð 2 Sport (Iceland), DIRECTV Sports (Argentina), FOX Premium (Brazil), beIN Sports 1 (Australia), PPTV Sport (China)