Atletico Madrid will look to score a fourth consecutive win in all competitions when they start their La Liga season with a clash against Rayo Vallecano on Sunday evening at the Campo de Futbol de Vallecas.

Diego SimeoneThe Barcelona team is in second place in the table, four points behind leaders Barcelona, ​​while Rayo is in ninth place with seven points from the first five games of the season.

Game Preview

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Rayo picked up four points from their first two league games of the season, winning 2-1 against Real Sociedad and drawing 0-0 with Getafe, but then lost two games in a row against Barcelona and Espanyol.

On Monday evening, the capital team managed to get back on track against Osasuna. They came from behind to win 3-1. They now have seven points, which is enough for ninth place.

Inigo PerezThe side finished 17th in La Liga last season, avoiding relegation by just five points, and are now playing their fourth consecutive season at this level of football.

Rayo have lost their last three league games against Atletico and have not beaten the Red-Whites since February 2013, which is an indication of how big their task is in this game.

Atletico recorded two victories over Rayo in La Liga last season, including a 7-0 victory in the match, but the return match at the Wanda Metropolitano was much closer, with the hosts winning 2-1.

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Atletico, on the other hand, have been in strong form at the start of the season, picking up eleven points from five La Liga games thanks to a record of three wins and two losses and are in second place in the table.

Simeone’s team are currently four points behind leaders Barcelona and level on points with Real Madrid and Villarreal in third and fourth place, so a lot could change in a short space of time.

Atletico drew with Villarreal in their opening La Liga game before beating Girona 3-0, but then lost at home to Espanyol in their third game of the season.

The Red-Whites managed to win their last two games in the league. Before the international break they beat Athletic Bilbao 1-0 and last weekend they beat Valencia 3-0.

Atletico also go into this game on the back of a Champions League win, having beaten RB Leipzig 2-1 in that competition on Thursday night. That means the capital side will be looking to record their fourth consecutive win when they take to the field on Sunday evening.

Rayo Vallecano La Liga form:

Atletico Madrid La Liga form:

Atletico Madrid form (all competitions):

Team News

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Rayo must continue to rely on the services of Alfonso Espino And Diego Mendez for this game, but the home team is otherwise in good shape ahead of their duel with Atletico.

Coach Perez could make some changes to the team that faced Osasuna. Isi Palazon And Unai Lopez possibly inserted laterally.

Lopez scored against Osasuna as a substitute, while Palazon impressed as a second-half substitute. The duo are now expected to start, but Sergio Camello should be continued through the middle.

As for Atletico, Pablo Barrios is out due to muscular problems, but the capital city team has not reported any new complaints from the Champions League match against Leipzig.

There will be changes compared to the starting eleven for the European Championship. Samuel Lino, Conor Gallagher And Alexander Sorloth expected to return to the site.

Angel Correa, Rodrigo DePaul And Rodrigo Riquelme could be the three players who slide onto the bench, with Antoine Griezmann Due to an excellent performance in the Champions League, he is expected to be there.

Possible starting eleven for Rayo Vallecano:
Batalla; Ratiu, Lejeune, Moomin, Chavarria; Valentin, Trejo, U Lopez; Palazon, Camello, A Garcia

Possible starting eleven for Atletico Madrid:
Oblak; Le Normand, Gimenez, Reinildo; Llorente, Gallagher, Koke, Lino; Alvarez, Sorloth, Griezmann

We say: Rayo Vallecano 1-2 Atlético Madrid

Atletico have so much quality all over the pitch and with Simeone having the luxury of refreshing his team this weekend, we don’t expect a hangover in Europe. Rayo have enough potential to score but we’re backing the visitors to take all three points on Sunday night.

Click here to see a data analysis of the most likely outcomes, scores and more for this match.

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