La Liga, Monday, 19.08.2024 at 21:30
What is Atletico Madrid’s plan for the new season? Is Diego Simeone working on a major attack on Real Madrid and FC Barcelona with a new strike duo?
In his twelve-year tenure (full seasons), the top three Spanish teams have each finished in the top four – but the Colchoneros have only won two championships under Diego Simeone.
For the Villarreal Atletico Madrid betting tip, I was inspired by the visitors’ new attacking line and opted for odds of 1.86 for “Atletico Madrid over 1.5 goals” at Winamax.
The yellow submarine dives quite often against Atletico Madrid and won only one of the twelve previous comparisons.
Another league clash is scheduled for the first matchday of the new La Liga season, in which Villarreal can be described as underdogs with betting odds of up to 3.35.
The odds for a Colchoneros three-goal win also do not fall below the 2.00 mark and can rise even further with an odds boost.
A win bet on the visitors would not be wrong in my eyes. Atletico Madrid won both meetings last season (3:1, 2:1) and had an enjoyable time in the run-up to the new season.
Four test matches, four wins, a final success against Juventus Turin (2-0) and a total of 12-2 goals have drastically increased the anticipation in Madrid for the start of the season.
Atletico Madrid have added further excitement to their preparations with three highly exciting new signings. In addition to central defender Robin Le Normand (Real Sociedad), Alexander Sörloth (Villarreal) and Julian Alvarez (Manchester City) signed a contract with the Rojiblancos.
Sörloth scored for his opponents on the first matchday last year and was crowned the second-highest scorer in the Spanish top flight with 23 goals this season.
Julian Alvarez’s skills were worth up to €95 million to the managers of last season’s fourth-placed team. Alvarez did not get the playing time he wanted in Pep Guardiola’s team, but used his 54 competitive games last year to score 32 goals (19 goals, 13 assists)
Together with them, Diego Simeone wants to massively reduce the gap to the competition at the top of the table again and prevent a hopeless season with an ultimate 19-point gap to the champions.
A kick-start with three points against Villarreal and a decent performance on the pitch would fuel such hopes.
In comparison, Villarreal had a much weaker preparation and won just one of their six matches. The final mood-killer came in the dress rehearsal against Brighton (0:4), with the yellow submarine conceding over 1.5 goals in four of six test matches
This pairing has developed an almost consistent pattern in recent encounters. Atletico Madrid have scored at least twice in six of the seven meetings.
Diego Simeone can certainly bring about a similar scenario with his new weapons, but he should be concerned about his defense. The Atletico defense lacks depth and many players have already left their youth behind them.
NEObet can help here with an offer of 1.70 for “Over 2.5 goals in the match” – a limit that has recently been easily surpassed in five out of six direct duels.
The Rojiblancos’ preparation matches suggest a change in their footballing approach under Diego Simeone. Atletico tried a 3-4-3 formation in possession and showed an increased interest in possession.
Villarreal were already defending at a weak level last season. With the exception of Granada (64.8 xGA) and Almeria (62.1 xGA), no La Liga team conceded more expected goals (59.2 xGA).
Even before the arrival of Sörloth and Alvarez, Atletico Madrid had a potent offense. Antoine Griezmann, for example, scored 22 points last year (5th).
Joao Felix could also take on a more prominent role. Last year, he was among the eight players with the most ball contacts in the opposition penalty area per 90 minutes (4.45 via Wyscout).
Individually, Joao Felix completed the preparation in the best possible way and scored the first goal in the 2-0 win against Juventus Turin
In addition, the age and sometimes the lack of speed in Villarreal’s defense is important in this pairing.
In the 2-2 draw against Dortmund, the home side’s back four consisted of three players who stood out with 30+ years of experience.
In addition to 25-year-old new signing Sergi Cardona, Marcelino fielded defenders Eric Bailly (30), Raul Albiol (38) and Kiko Femenia (33). Together, the final line-up had an average age of 31.5 years
Atletico Madrid made their ambitions for the new La Liga year clear with their activities on the transfer market.
The visitors’ preparations lived up to expectations and created great anticipation among their own supporters. The test matches for Villarreal were much weaker, ruling out any improvement in a back line that was already weak last season.
My Villarreal Atletico Madrid tip is: Atletico Madrid to score over 1.5 goals
