By SPANISH LA LIGA PREVIEW
SAT. 14TH OCTOBER FIXTURES
GETAFE VS REAL MADRID
Real Madrid make the short trip to the south of the Spanish capital for what could be a potentially tricky tie against a Getafe side that has impressed on their return to La Liga.
Los Azulones’ previous home match saw them thrash Villarreal 4-0, while their opening two home encounters saw them narrowly defeated 1-0 by Sevilla and 2-1 by Barcelona.
Madrid, for their part, have enjoyed much more success on the road than at the Bernabeu, and away from home Zinedine Zidane’s men are on a record-breaking 12-match winning streak in La Liga.
While Madrid are clear favourites, there could well be value in backing goals at both ends because despite their excellent winning run away from home, the European champions have not kept many clean sheets.
Getafe have netted in each of their last five matches, and their experienced centre-forward Jorge Molina has an excellent scoring record against Madrid, having netted in four separate matches against Los Blancos.
Molina and his team-mates will feel they can at the very least get on the scoresheet on Saturday, as they did against Barcelona, and with Madrid keeping just two clean sheets in their seven league games this term, there is every chance of goals at both ends at the Coliseum Alfonso Perez.
ATLETICO MADRID VS BARCELONA
La Liga leaders Barcelona travel to fourth-placed Atletico Madrid for the biggest test of their season so far.
If Atletico Madrid are to end Barcelona 100 per cent record in La Liga this Saturday, they also have to end a winless run dating back seven years.
Indeed, Atletico last league victory over Barca came as far back as February 2010, with Atletico managing just three draws in the fixture since then losing a total of 11 times.
At home, meanwhile, Atletico have only mustered one draw in their last seven La Liga meetings with Barcelona, a point which they bagged as far back as January 2014, while osing the other six.
Naturally, Atletico Madrid fans may argue the slate,has been wiped clean the club have now moved to a new stadium, the Wanda Metropolitano.
Barcelona are the away team and, regardless of their strong record at Atletico, home team advantage is always worth considering in football.
This is especially applicable in a league where away followings are generally small, with Atletico allocating each visiting club only 250 tickets per game this season; Barcelona claim they have not been supplied any on this occasion.
However, Barca remain top of La Liga, having won seven out of seven ? and are six points ahead of Atletico Madrid, who drew a blank at Leganes during a 0-0 draw last time out.
Moreover, despite the controversy, Barcelona recent clash against Las Palmas still resulted in a 3-0 win for Ernesto Valverde men, with Lionel Messi once again registering two goals.
The Atletico clash will undoubtedly be Barca toughest test of their league campaign to date, with Diego Simeone side not losing in La Liga and winning both of their home league games thus far. Barcelona, though, are in scintillating form.
Athletic Bilbao VS Sevilla
Alaves VS Real Sociedad
SUN. 15TH OCTOBER FIXTURES
Eibar vs Deportivo La Coruna
Girona vs Villarreal
Malaga vs Leganes
Real Betis vs Valencia
