Atletico Madrid v Lille predictions: Visitors to keep it tight in Madrid
- Atletico were thrashed 4-0 at Benfica in most recent Champions League outing
- Lille followed 2-1 loss at Sparta Prague with 1-0 win over holders Real Madrid
- Recommended bet: Under 2.5 goals
It has been a mixed start for Atletico Madrid in the Champions League, with Diego Simeone’s side currently 23rd in the table after following a 2-1 win over RB Leipzig with a heavy 4-0 defeat to Benfica.
Lille are slightly above their hosts in 18th position, having bounced back from a disappointing night in Prague by pulling off the biggest shock of the tournament so far, with a 1-0 home win against Real Madrid.
Team news
Atleti will be without the injured Robin Le Normand, Cesar Azpilicueta and Marcos Llorente for this match.
Simone also has a selection dilemma in attack over who starts between Julian Alvarez and Alexander Sorloth, with the latter having scored two goals in the 3-1 win over Leganes at the weekend.
Lille come into this match with Tiago Santos, Ismaily, Ethan Mbappe and Hakon Arnar Haraldsson all unavailable with injuries.
The stats
Atletico are unbeaten in 10 LaLiga games this season but, having drawn five of them, they are already seven points behind the leaders Barcelona.
Lille drew 0-0 at second placed Monaco in their Ligue 1 clash on Friday night, which was the third time that they have failed to score in their last four away matches.
Atleti are unbeaten in their last 11 home games in the Champions League, winning the last six.
Lille have kept clean sheets in three of their last four outings across all competitions.
Prediction
Simeone has a familiar problem to solve, as he looks to his side to recover from that mauling in Portugal.
Despite the contrary evidence of that 4-0 loss, Los Colchoneros have tightened up this season and have the meanest defensive record in LaLiga, with just six goals conceded in 10 games.
Yet the 3-1 win against Leganes was the first time that they had scored more than once in five matches, with Alvarez failing to convince since his big-money arrival from Manchester City.
Lille have a poor record on the road this season, but there are signs of their own defensive improvement, with the French side having kept clean sheets in their last two away games.
They also managed to not concede against Atleti’s deadly rivals Real and, with Lille’s best hope of a positive result looking likely to come from keeping things tight, we should not expect many goals from this one.
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