Atletico Madrid are in absolutely fantastic form at the moment and are situated at the top of the La Liga table, only behind Barcelona in goal differential. They will welcome bottom of the table side, Levante, to the Vicente Calderon to begin 2016.

Tiago is the only long-term injury for Atleti as he is currently suffering from a broken shinbone and will be out for quite a while longer. Three of manager Rubi’s men are out suspended including Deyverson, Pedro López and Simão Junior; Victor Casadesus is the only footballer out injured at the moment for the visitors.

Form

Diego Simeone’s men are flying high and are full of confidence. If it were not for their defeat to Malaga before the holiday break, they would have been in first all by themselves. The overall record since the early parts of October is stellar. In 17 matches during this same period, that lone match to the aforementioned side and three draws are their only blemishes across all competitions.

In their midweek clash with local rivals Rayo Vallecano, Atletico were pushed the whole match. It ended with a final score of 0-2 to the visitors but that score did not tell the whole story. Possession was nearly dead even, although Atletico had more of it in the final third of the pitch getting away the better of the chances. Young Angel Correra finally broke the deadlock in the 88th minute before Antoine Griezmann doubled the lead two minutes later, clinching victory.

Week in and week out, Levante keep dropping all three points and digging a giant hole as they try to climb away from the relegation zone. But in their last five matches, in all competitions, were defeats. One of these defeats included was really quite stunning. After going ahead 2-0 over Los Blancos, they gave up ten unanswered goals which is a remarkable stat.

Levante fell to the hands of Malaga during the middle of the week. They were compact and organized in defense but had a terrible time trying to venture in the final third of the pitch as there was often a misplaced pass. A free kick that got driven low and underneath the wall was the difference as Malaga took home all three points.

Key Players

Antoine Griezmann will be the creative outlet for Atletico Madrid. While he plays on the wings most of the time, the Frenchman has the ability to cut back inside, leave his defender and either create a glorious chance for one of his teammates or strike his effort on goal; he leads the team in goals having found the back of the net nine times already.

A young Colombian is starting to find his own in Spain and he goes by the name of Jefferson Lerma. He is on loan from Atletico Huila and is proving that, with some more hard work on the training pitch, he could soon be a mainstay in the starting eleven at Levante.

Prediction

Atletico Madrid are much better side than their opponent’s in today’s match. In every position on the pitch, they have a more talented footballer and should be able to win with some ease. The hosts should win comfortably by two or three goals at a minimum.