Las Palmas vs Atletico Madrid Preview: Probable Lineups, Prediction, Tactics, Team News & Key Stats

Atletico Madrid will look to maintain their winning streak when they hit the road to square up against Las Palmas.

Diego Simeone’s Atletico Madrid have had an incredible start to the new season, and they will look to continue in similar fashion when they square up against Las Palmas. The home team have bounced back after a poor start to the season and will aim to cause an upset when they host Simeone’s team.

Las Palmas had won only one out of their first seven league games. Things were not really looking good for the home team, but they have managed to bounce back and are currently sitting 10th on the points table with 14 points out of their 11 matches with four wins to their name.

Los Amarillos have won four out of their last five games in all competitions and are now all set to square up against Atletico Madrid on the back of two consecutive wins. They won 2-1 against Almeria in the league and backed it up with a 3-0 win over Manacor in the Copa del Rey.

The visitors have been in sensational form in the ongoing season. They have been unbeaten in their last nine matches in all competitions and have won each of their last six outings in the league. Atletico Madrid are currently third on the points table three points behind league leaders Real Madrid with a game in hand.

Diego Simeone’s men are heading into this encounter on the back of a 2-1 win over Alaves. While the scoreline might suggest that it was a closely fought encounter, the reality is that the visitors dominated the game and were in full control throughout apart from the goal that they conceded in the injury time of the second half.

Atletico Madrid will be heading into this fixture as the favourites, but Las Palmas will surely try to cause an upset. It is going to be an interesting battle between two quality teams, and The Hard Tackle takes a closer look at both teams and tries to predict the tactics they could deploy.

Team News & Tactics

Las Palmas

The home team will be without the services of Sandro Ramirez and Fabio Gonzalez. Meanwhile, the availability of Jonathan Viera is still a doubt. Garcia Pimienta is expected to make wholesale changes to the XI that started in the Copa del Rey fixture. He will recall all of his important players for this tough assignment against one of the giants of Spanish football.

🔛 ¡Listos para la cita en el Gran Canaria! #LasPalmasAtleti 🔥 ¡#VamosUD! #LaUniónHaceLasPalmas 💛💙 pic.twitter.com/loM9i12QKP

— UD Las Palmas (@UDLP_Oficial) November 2, 2023

Pimienta will stick with the 4-5-1 formation, where the in-demand Alvaro Valles will be in goal. Alex Suarez and Sergi Cardona will start out wide as the full-backs. Meanwhile, in the heart of the defence, Saul Coco will pair up with Mika Marmol.

Marvin Park and Munir El Haddadi will start out wide in the centre of the park. The duo might start in the midfield but will be looking to push up the field and stretch the opposition defence at every possible opportunity.

Kirian Rodriguez, Maximo Perrone and Javier Munoz will feature in a more central role. The trio will look to protect their backline. While they would love to dominate the ball, that looks unlikely given the opposition and they will most likely try to initiate counterattacks.

Meanwhile, 28-year-old Marc Cardona will start up top as their striker. He is expected to have a tough day at the office given the kind of performance the Atletico Madrid defence has been putting up of late.

Probable Lineup (4-5-1): Valles; Suarez, Coco, Marmol, S Cardona; Park, Munoz, Perrone, Rodriguez, El Haddadi; M Cardona

Atletico Madrid

The visitors will be without the services of Samuel Lino, Memphis Depay, Thomas Lemar, Vitolo and Reinildo. Diego Simeone is expected to continue with the 3-5-2 formation, and he won’t make any major changes to his usual first-team XI.

💭 ¡Concentrados al máximo en un nuevo reto liguero! pic.twitter.com/xxs5TeOqgJ

— Atlético de Madrid (@Atleti) November 2, 2023

Jan Oblak will continue in goal. In front of him, Stefan Savic, Axel Witsel and Mario Hermoso will form the back three. The trio has done an excellent job so far and they will look to continue in a similar fashion.

Nahuel Molina and Rodrigo Riquelme will be the wing-backs for the visitors. Riquelme had a great game last time out, and he even managed to find the back of the net. As a result, he will most likely keep his place in the team.

Koke and Rodrigo De Paul will have the support of Saul Níguez in the centre of the park. The trio will look to control the majority of the ball and dictate the pace of this game. Up top star man Antoine Griezmann will pair up with Alvaro Morata who has been in red-hot form in the ongoing season.

Probable Lineup (3-5-2): Oblak; Savic, Witsel, Hermoso; Molina, De Paul, Koke, Saul, Riquelme; Griezmann, Morata

Key Stats

• Las Palmas had won one out of their first seven league games. They have bounced back and now have four wins out of 11 games.
• Atletico Madrid have been unbeaten in their last nine games in all competitions.
• The home team have won four out of their last five games in all competitions.
• The visitors have won each of their last six games in La Liga and will look to make it seven in a row against Las Palmas.
• Diego Simeone’s team have the joint-best attack in the league with 25 goals in their 10 outings.

Player to Watch

Koke

Embed from Getty Images

The 31-year-old is one of the mainstays of the Atletico Madrid team. While he might not get the limelight, Koke has been integral to their success over the years.

In the ongoing season, the Spanish international has featured in nine games and has also contributed towards two goals. He might be the one who ends up scoring the goals and winning games, Koke is the one who sets the tempo and he will be important for Simeone’s team against Las Palmas.