ATLETICO MADRID v GRANADA – Pick: 1 HT/FT – 18 January 2015

Atletico to cover both halves against poor Granada

International Football Tips

Football – Spain – La Liga

Sunday 18th January 2015 – Kickoff: 1600hrs

Atletico Madrid scored a fantastic result away at derby rivals Real Madrid during the week in the Copa del Rey as they held their neighbours to a 2-2 draw to progress to a tie with Barcelona.

But it’s back to La Liga action this weekend for Atletico who will be looking to close in on the top two of Real Madrid and Barcelona, especially when they host bottom club Granada on home turf this weekend with all three points top of the agenda.

Atletico Madrid have won five of their last seven which includes recent wins over Elche, Athletic Bilbao and Levante who are all situated in the bottom half of the division, and an example of Atletico’s ruthlessness against the ‘lesser’ teams. By the way, their home record stands at an impressive  7-1-1  22/8 and they’ve been ahead at half-time in 8 of their 9 home matches so far this term.

 

Visitors Granada currently sit bottom of La Liga on the back of fourteen league matches without a win, and it’s no surprise that they’ve also struggled away from home as they possess an overall record of  1-3-5  6/19 with only Espanyol and Elche (20 goals) conceding more on their travels than them.

To make matters worse, Granada have lost their last three away matches on the trot with defeats at Sevilla 5-1, Espanyol 2-1 and Cordoba 2-0 which means they’ve conceded 9 goals and scored just 2 in reply during this sequence.

 

Hosts Atletico Madrid have scored 2 goals in 8 of their last 9 home matches and their firepower is expected to be the difference here today with the likes of Griezmann and Mandzukic up front along with Torres coming off the bench, they should simply blow Granada away. Could be a 2-0 win for Atletico and to win HT/FT.

Pick: Atletico Madrid HT/FT @ 1.61 bet365