Atletico Madrid vs. Real Valladolid 6/20/20 LaLiga Soccer Pick, Odds, and Prediction

Atletico Madrid is hosting Real Valladolid at Wanda Metropolitano in round 30 of Spanish LaLiga.

Atletico has been playing good as of late and they haven’t lost any of their last 9 games, including the ones against Liverpool in the Champions League. Atletico is in 4th place with 49 points, 2 points ahead of 5th and 6th place, and 2 points away from the third place. Atletico is having some of the best defenses in LaLiga and has conceded only 22 goals, while they are improving offensively and have now scored 37 goals in 29 games. In their last LaLiga match against Osasuna this past weekend, Atletico was the better team with 53% of ball possession, 6 shots on goal, 2 corner kicks, and 71% of the correct passes. I would dare to say that this was Atletico’s best offensive game this season which they won 0-5. Morata is still the top goal scorer for Atletico with 9 goals, while Felix scored 2 goals in his last match and now he has 6 goals in total. Koke and Correa each have 5 assists. Vrsaljko is still injured, while Felipe is questionable. Now that we know that the Champions League will start in August, it’s in Atletico’s best interest to stay in this good form they are in, and seeing their schedule over the next few games, I believe they just might.

Valladolid has been hot and cold for most of the season, but they are safely outside the relegation zone, in 14th place with 33 points. Valladolid hasn’t lost their last 2 LaLiga games and has conceded only 1 goal while scoring 2 goals in those two games. Defensively, Valladolid is decent with 34 conceded goals, but only 25 scored goals are not enough to expect more from their season. Sergi Guardiola has scored 6 goals for Valladolid this season, while Unal added 5 goals. Jose Antonio Caro is the only injured player for Valladolid, and he will not be playing. In their last LaLiga match against Celta Vigo at home, Valladolid has had only 40% of ball possession, 1 shot on goal, 5 corner kicks, and 74% of the correct passes. Valladolid was hanging by the thread in this game when Celta had a penalty kick in 71st minute, but their goalkeeper bailed them out by making an awesome save. This match ended in a 0-0 draw. With enough points left to be won in the season, Valladolid can go up or down, but with their lack of offense, it’s more likely that Valladolid will be going down.

The trends are heavily on Atletico’s side, and they haven’t lost any of their last 4 home games against Valladolid. Atletico’s home record this season is 8-5-1, while Valladolid is 4-4-7 on the road. The last game that Valladolid won against Atletico on the road was back in 2009, and I don’t see it happening here. Atletico is the better team that is getting their groove back.