Espanyol will play hosts to Atletico Madrid in the La Liga matchday 4 on Sunday. The kick-off is at 14:00 CEST.

Preview

Espanyol have collected just two points in their opening three league games since getting promoted back to the Spanish top flight this summer as Vicente Moreno's men held Osasuna and Villarreal to goalless draws before losing to Mallorca 1-0 in late August. As a result, the Budgerigars will welcome Atletico to Cornella-El Prat sitting in 16th in the standings.

The 2020/21 La Liga champions, meanwhile, kicked off their title defence with back-to-back victories over Celta (2-1) and Elche (1-0) but were lucky enough to avoid their first loss of the current campaign against Villarreal in the matchday 3, thanks to Aissa Mandi's last-gast own goal (2-2). Thus, Diego Dimeone's side are now fifth in the table, level on points with other five clubs who have two wins and a draw in the opening three matches.

Team news

While Yangel Herrera and Adria Pedrosa remain doubtful for the hosts through injury, Sergi Gomez is suspended for the weekend's clash. Simeone, in turn, has a fully fit squad at his disposal for the upcoming trip to Barcelona.

Prediction

Well, Espanyol are yet to score a single goal in the 2021/22 La Liga season and it doesn't seem likely that Moreno's crop are going to make it against Atletico's robust defence. Even if they eventually manage to find the back of Jan Oblak's net, there would be Antoine Griezmann to make the difference for the Rojiblancos as the Frenchman sealed his return to Madrid from Barca on August 31. Therefore, we'd stick with Atleti in this one, especially given their status of the current Spanish top-flight champions.

Tip

Atletico Madrid to win at 1.965 with 1XBET.