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Atletico Madrid will move to the top of the table with a win over Real Sociedad, but the visitors are in great form and will fancy their chances of upsetting the odds.
Barcelona lost against Valencia this round, so now a great season for Atletico might find its pinnacle this Sunday if the hosts manage to get the three points against Sociedad. The hosts won the last league game against Rayo Vallecano (4-2 on the road) but prior to that they has 2 chances to go first in La Liga, missing them both with two draws. Firstly against Barcelona, a good result, but them Atletico folded under pressure to record a 1-1 draw against Sevilla. That pressure will be on the hosts again today, and it remains to be seen if they can manage it better. Atletico has a brilliant 9-2-0 record at home, but the 2 draws came in the last two games.
Sociedad is in great form right now, winning three and drawing 1 of their last 4 matches. The last two times out, Sociedad defeated Santander and Elche with a combined score of 7-1. Overall in the last 10 games, the visitors recorded 7 wins, 2 draws and a single loss, but it was a heavy 5-1 drubbing at the hands of Villareal. Sociedad got a walkover over Santander on Thursday so they should be fresh for this one.
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Team news and lineups
Oliver, Suarez and Luis are out for Atletico, while Tiago is questionable. New signing Diego could be on the bench. The visitors won`t be able to rely on Granero, De la Bella, Ifran and Estrada. Elustrodo is doubtful.
Atletico Madrid: Courtois – Juanfran, Godin, Miranda, Manquillo – Koke, Garcia, Gabi, Turan – Costa, Villa
Real Sociedad: Bravo – C. Martinez, Ansotegi, I. Martinez, Angel – Markel, Pardo, Prieto – Vela, Agirretxe, Griezmann
No doubt Atletico Madrid is the better team here and their home record is impressive, but considering the circumstances odds of 1.30 on them represent a huge joke. Atletico clearly lost some of its power in January, with 2 draws and 2 narrow wins, one of the reasons for this being Diego Costa`s massive decrease in form. Also, the hosts clearly proved that they can`t handle the pressure of a decisive match for the first place, so at least for now they can`t be trusted when it comes to clutch performance. Not lastly, Sociedad is a very solid team in great form, so they have a fighting chance against any team in Spain. They play great on counters, which works well in an away game at Atletico. I could pick Sociedad +1,5 for a safer bet but my tip will be x2. I reckon the best choice here is to go with the full value, as the visitors can surely surprise Atletico, but they could also lose by more than 1 goal in certain scenarios, as they showed against Villareal just a couple of weeks ago (1-5). Correct score prediction for this one: Atletico Madrid – Real Sociedad 1-1.
Pick: x2
Odds: 3.50 @ Bet365
Stake: 5
Possible profit: 12.5
Event date: 2 February
