Alaves at Atletico Madrid 12/8/18 - La Liga Picks & Predictions

There is a very interesting match-up coming our way from the La Liga on Saturday, when Atletico Madrid will play host to Alaves. Atletico Madrid have been great this season but have not won any of their last two league matches. Alaves have been excellent so far and are sitting just one point behind Atletico Madrid in the standings.

Atletico Madrid (6-1-7) were in for a tough time when they were hosted by Girona in their last match, and should be feeling lucky that they avoided the loss. Their opponents are always strong at home, and they took the lead at the end of the first half. But Atletico Madrid pulled even at the 82nd minute when Girona scored an own goal for the final 1-1. Atletico Madrid are now undefeated in their last eight matches in all competitions (5-0-3) but kept just four clean sheets in that span. They are sitting 3rd spot with 25 points, two behind Sevilla and three behind Barcelona. They have yet to be defeated at home so far in the league (5-0-2), where they have three more wins for the Champions League. Alaves (7-4-3) are also coming off a tough match last week, where they played for a 1-1 draw on the road against Sevilla. They took the lead in the first half of that match but they couldn’t hold on to their lead - they were equalized at the 78th minute for the final 1-1. They have been in great shape lately, having lost just two of their last eight (4-2-2). They have been great this season overall and are still sitting at the 4th spot of the La Liga with 24 points. They are one behind Atletico Madrid, one ahead of Real Madrid and also have the third best defense (14). Alaves have been quite competitive on the road, where they have either lost or won - there are no draws (3-4-0). They have only failed to score twice on the road, but have only kept two clean sheets.