Atletico Madrid will be bidding to make it seven straight wins in La Liga when they travel to Estadio Gran Canaria on Friday evening to take on Las Palmas.
Diego Simeone's side are third in the table, three points behind leaders Real Madrid with a game in hand, while Las Palmas occupy 10th, boasting 14 points from their opening 11 matches of the campaign.
Match preview
© Reuters
Las Palmas struggled in the early stages of the campaign, winning just one of their opening seven La Liga matches, but they have been in excellent form over the last month, boasting four wins from their last five games in all competitions.
In La Liga, Garcia Pimienta's side have been victorious in three of their last four matches, while they will enter this fixture off the back of a 3-0 success over Manacor in the Copa del Rey.
Las Palmas were also 2-1 winners over Almeria in the league last weekend, and a total of 14 points from 11 matches has left them in 10th position in the table.
Goals have been hard to find this term, only netting eight in their 11 games, which is the worst attacking record in the division, but they have been strong defensively, conceding just 10 times, which is the third-best record behind Real Madrid (eight) and Atletico (nine).
Los Amarillos, who finished second in the Segunda Division last term, suffered a 3-0 defeat to Atletico when these two teams last locked horns in La Liga back in January 2018.
© Reuters
As is often the case, a lot of the focus in La Liga this season has been on Real Madrid and Barcelona, meaning that Atletico's excellent start has somewhat gone under the radar.
Simeone's side have won eight, drawn one and lost one of their 10 league games this season to sit third in the table on 25 points, only three points behind leaders Real Madrid with a match to spare.
Atletico have won their last six in the league, including a 2-1 victory over Alaves on Sunday, with the team responding impressively to their 3-0 loss at Valencia in the middle of September, which was undoubtedly the low-point of their campaign thus far.
The Red and Whites are second in their Champions League section, meanwhile, picking up five points from three matches to sit in the position behind Feyenoord in Group E.
Atletico are very much in a title race at this stage of proceedings, and they will be looking for three more wins against Las Palmas, Celtic and Villarreal before the November international break kicks in.
Team News
© Reuters
Las Palmas will again be without the services of Sandro Ramirez and Fabio Gonzalez through injury, while Jonathan Viera remains a doubt as he deals with a personal issue.
As expected, there were wholesale changes in the Copa del Rey on Tuesday, but the team's big-hitters, including Marc Cardona, Saul Coco, Alvaro Valles and Marvin Park, will be back in the side for this one.
Munir El Haddadi is set to continue in a wide area for the home side, with the team potentially being unchanged from the one that started against Almeria in the league last time out.
As for Atletico, Samuel Lino, Memphis Depay, Thomas Lemar, Vitolo and Reinildo remain unavailable for selection.
Rodrigo Riquelme impressed as a starter against Alaves, finding the back of the net in the process, and the Spaniard should continue in a wide area on Friday night.
There are unlikely to be any real surprises when it comes to the Atletico XI, with Alvaro Morata and Antoine Griezmann set to continue in the final third of the field.
Marcos Llorente is pushing for a start, while Pablo Barrios is another midfield option, but Saul Niguez is expected to keep hold of his spot in the side.
Las Palmas possible starting lineup:
Valles; Suarez, Coco, Marmol, S Cardona; Park, Munoz, Perrone, Rodriguez, El Haddadi; M Cardona
Atletico Madrid possible starting lineup:
Oblak; Savic, Witsel, Hermoso; Molina, De Paul, Koke, Saul, Riquelme; Griezmann, Morata
We say: Las Palmas 0-1 Atletico Madrid
Both teams have been strong defensively this season, while Las Palmas have found it difficult to hit the back of the net, so we are predicting a low-scoring away win here, but it would not be a huge surprise if Las Palmas were able to hold Simeone's team to a goalless draw.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Matt Law
