Atletico Madrid will make the trip to Andalusia this weekend knowing that a victory against Cadiz would make it eight wins in as many La Liga games, a true statement of intent for the title favourites.
Cadiz, who have blown hot and cold this season, will have to devise a masterplan to get the better of Atleti on Sunday. Diego Simeone's men have only been beaten once all season.
Match preview
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Besting Simeone's Atleti is a big ask for Andalusia's Yellow Submarine, but Cadiz boss Alvaro Cervera will come into this tie knowing that stranger things have happened.
In what has been a rollercoaster of a campaign for Cadiz, who were promoted back into Spain's top flight just last season, Cervera's men have beaten both Barcelona and Real Madrid and lost to struggling sides like Osasuna and Getafe.
This weekend, Cervera will be hoping that his side can slay La Liga's most unassailable titan and come away with all three points to show for their efforts.
However, to achieve that, Cadiz will have to change it up in attack. Cervera's side are the only team in the league who have not yet scored a goal outside of the penalty area this season, and Atleti will certainly not allow them much, or any, freedom in that third of the pitch.
Currently 10th in the standings, Cadiz were rattled by Julen Lopetegui's Sevilla last time out in the league, with Youssef En-Nesyri bagging a hat-trick against Cervera's men.
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While Cadiz centre-backs Pedro Alcala and Cala may still be recovering from their exposure to En-Nesyri's lethal goalscoring instincts, they will have to dust themselves off quickly because Luis Suarez does not tend to pull his punches.
The Atleti poacher is thriving in the capital and looks to be enjoying a new lease of life away from Barca. The striker is currently the division's top scorer with 17 league goals and it is likely that he will add to that tally this weekend.
It is almost impossible to fault Atleti this season. Currently topping the table, Atleti are seven points clear and have only conceded eight goals so far.
Considering that Atleti have generally fared pretty well in Andalusia in recent times, it is difficult to see Simeone's men losing this tie. In fact, Atleti have only lost one of their last 11 away games against Andalusian sides.
As far as this matchup goes, it is Atleti's game to lose.
Cadiz La Liga form: LDDWDL
Cadiz form (all competitions): DWWLDL
Atletico Madrid La Liga form: WWWWWW
Atletico Madrid form (all competitions): WWLWWW
Team News
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Atleti will be without first-team regulars Mario Hermoso and Yannick Carrasco, who are isolating due to COVD-19 regulations.
Simeone is still without trusted full-back Kieran Trippier for this tie, with the England international still suspended for another couple of months.
Having served his own suspension, Atleti skipper Koke reclaimed his spot in midfield last time out and will likely keep his place for this tie.
Cervera has no major absentees to concern himself with coming into this game.
However, Carlos Akapo, Jose Mari and Luismi Quezada are all out with injuries, while Alfonso Espino is unavailable due to COVID-19.
Cadiz possible starting lineup:
Ledesma; Carcelen, Alcala, Cala, Baro; Salvi, Jonsson, Fali, Alex; Negredo, Lozano
Atletico Madrid possible starting lineup:
Oblak; Savic, Gimenez, Felipe; Vrsaljko, Lemar, Saul, Koke, Llorente; Suarez, Correa
We say: Cadiz 0-2 Atletico Madrid
Cadiz play a good brand of football, but it is the type of attacking play that Atleti are more than capable of stamping out. We think Simeone's men will come away from Andalusia with another three points under their belt.
Top betting tip
Francis Buchanan
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Atletico Madrid win with a probability of 59.7%. A draw had a probability of 25.2% and a win for Cadiz had a probability of 15.07%.
The most likely scoreline for an Atletico Madrid win was 0-1 with a probability of 17.32%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 0-2 (13.51%) and 1-2 (8.62%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 0-0 (11.1%), while for a Cadiz win it was 1-0 (7.09%). The actual scoreline of 2-4 was predicted with a 0.6% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Atletico Madrid would win this match.
