Atletico Madrid will be aiming to return to winning ways in Spain's top flight when they conclude their 2023 with a home match against a struggling Sevilla on Saturday afternoon.
This game was originally due to take place in September, but it had to be postponed due to bad weather in the Madrid area, with both sides playing catch-up in terms of La Liga matches since.
Match preview
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Atletico have had a difficult few days, suffering a 2-0 defeat to Athletic Bilbao in La Liga on Saturday before being held to a 3-3 draw by Getafe at Wanda Metropolitano on Tuesday.
Diego Simeone's side were actually 3-1 ahead against Getafe last time out entering the latter stages of the contest, but the visitors netted twice in the final exchanges to secure a share of the spoils, and Atletico now sit fourth in the table, boasting 35 points from their opening 17 matches of the campaign.
The Red and Whites are level on points with fifth-placed Athletic, while they are nine from leaders Girona, who are in action on Thursday evening away to Real Betis, before second-placed Real Madrid visit Alaves.
Simeone's side need to look after their own form, though, and there is a lot for the club to look forward to next year, particularly the Champions League round of 16, with the Madrid outfit drawn against Italian giants Inter Milan.
Atletico won both of their La Liga matches with Sevilla last season, including a 6-1 victory at Wanda Metropolitano, and they have the strongest home record in La Liga this term, picking up 25 points from their nine matches courtesy of a record of eight wins and one draw.
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Quique Sanchez Flores made the perfect start to his reign as Sevilla boss on Tuesday, with the Europa League holders recording a 3-0 victory over Granada.
The win was the team's first in Spain's top flight since the end of September, and it moved them into 14th position in the table, boasting 16 points from their 17 league matches this season courtesy of a record of three wins, seven draws and seven defeats.
There is no getting away from the fact that it has been a hugely disappointing campaign for Sevilla, who will not play European football in the second half of the season, having finished bottom of their Champions League group.
Last season's 12th-placed finish proved to be Sevilla's lowest final spot in Spain's top flight since they were relegated at the end of the 1999-2000 campaign, and this season has also been tough thus far.
Los Nervionenses will be hoping that Flores is the right match in terms of a head coach, though, and the three-goal success over Granada, which saw Adria Pedrosa, Lucas Ocampos and Sergio Ramos all register, could be the springboard that the team needed to kickstart their campaign.
Team News
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Atletico will be missing Stefan Savic through suspension on Saturday, with the experienced defender sent off in the first half of the pulsating draw with Getafe last time out.
The hosts will also be missing Pablo Barrios and Thomas Lemar due to injuries, but the team did not suffer any fresh fitness problems during their last match.
Head coach Simeone will make at least a couple of changes to the side that started against Getafe, with Cesar Azpilicueta set to come into the defence, while Alvaro Morata, who registered off the bench on Tuesday, is expected to take Memphis Depay's position to start alongside Antoine Griezmann.
As for Sevilla, Djibril Sow, Joan Jordan, Dodi Lukebakio, Fernando, Marcos Acuna, Tanguy Nianzou, Mariano Diaz, Jesus Navas, Loic Bade, Erik Lamela, Orjan Nyland and Alfonso Pastor are all out due to fitness issues.
Ivan Rakitic will be back from suspension, but head coach Flores is expected to name the same side that took to the field for the first whistle against Granada.
As a result, there should be midfield roles for both Suso and Oliver Torres on Saturday, with Ocampos set to feature alongside Youssef En-Nesyri in the final third of the field.
Atletico Madrid possible starting lineup:
Oblak; Azpilicueta, Witsel, Hermoso; Molina, De Paul, Koke, Riquelme, Lino; Griezmann, Morata
Sevilla possible starting lineup:
Dmitrovic; Gudelj, Ramos, Salas; Juanlu, Suso, Soumare, O Torres, Pedrosa; Ocampos, En-Nesyri
We say: Atletico Madrid 2-0 Sevilla
Sevilla were impressive against Granada, but it will be very difficult for them to repeat that this weekend, particularly considering their injury problems. Atletico will be determined to return to winning ways here, and we are expecting the Red and Whites to triumph fairly comfortably on Saturday.
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