Atletico Madrid vs Barcelona preview and prediction: top two meet in La Liga with one point between them

A meeting at the top

Atletico Madrid host Barcelona at the Metropolitano Stadium on Sunday 8 November, with kick-off at 20:00 UTC. The game is in La Liga, and as things stand the two sides occupy the top two places.

Atletico Madrid lead with 28 points from 11 matches: 9 wins, 1 draw and 1 defeat. Barcelona are second with 27 points from 10 matches, having won 9 and lost 1. The gap is a single point, though both sides may play again before this fixture and the picture could shift.

Atletico Madrid: tight at the back

The home side have built their position on defensive solidity. They have scored 22 and conceded 8 in the league, a goal difference of 14. Over the season they average 2 goals scored and 0.7 conceded per match, and they have kept a clean sheet in 55% of their games.

Their last 5 matches brought 4 wins and 1 draw, with 7 goals scored and 1 conceded. They won 2-0 at Levante on 31 October and 1-0 at home to Deportivo La Coruna a week earlier. Before that came a 1-1 draw away to VfB Stuttgart, a 1-0 win at Espanyol and a 2-0 home win over Manchester United.

Barcelona: goals at both ends

Barcelona have scored 40 and conceded 11 in the league, a goal difference of 29. They average 4.2 goals per match and have failed to score in none of their games this season. Over 2.5 goals have been seen in 91% of their matches.

Their recent form is less settled. They won 6-1 at home to Alaves on 31 October, but lost 1-2 at home to Real Madrid on 25 October and 2-4 away to Paris Saint Germain on 20 October. Before that they won 5-2 at Real Betis and 4-1 at Galatasaray. Across those 5 matches they have 3 wins and 2 defeats, with 18 goals scored and 10 conceded.

Head-to-head

Barcelona have the better recent record in this fixture. Of the last 5 meetings, they won 3 and Atletico Madrid won 2, with no draws. Atletico Madrid won 4-0 at home on 12 February, and Barcelona replied with a 3-0 home win on 3 March. The most recent three games were played in April: Barcelona won 2-1 at the Metropolitano on 4 April, Atletico Madrid won 2-0 at Barcelona on 8 April, and Barcelona won 2-1 at the Metropolitano again on 14 April.

No absences are listed for either side at the time of writing.

Outlook

The contrast in styles is clear. Atletico Madrid concede little, while Barcelona score freely and have also been breached more often in recent weeks. The head-to-head record leans towards the visitors, but the home side's league form is the steadier of the two. A tight game looks likely, and goals from the visitors would not be a surprise given their numbers so far.