Atlético de Madrid will host Real Madrid at the Wanda Metropolitano on Saturday night, hoping to make amends for their 3-1 home defeat in this fixture last season. The last time these two met, Diego Simeone's side undoubtedly laid down a marker, as Los Colchoneros ran out 7-3 winners against their arch-rivals in the International Champions Cup in July. 

Madrid themselves look to have bounced back after their heavy away defeat at the hands of PSG in the Champions League last Wednesday. Zinedine Zidane's assertion that his team's poor performance was down to a lack of intensity failed to pass muster with the Spanish media and a number of Madrid fans - many of whom claim that the problems facing Los Blancos are more structural and long-term than the manager cares to admit.

Whatever the case, a hard-fought victory away to high flying Sevilla on Sunday night and a convincing 2-0 win over Osasuna in midweek has put Madrid top of the table for the first time this season. A week does indeed appear to be a long time in football, and Madrid may well go into the first Derbi Madrileño of the season with a degree of cautious optimism.

Meanwhile, Atlético has not been without their own jitters in the lead-up to this game. Despite taking a maximum of nine points from their first three fixtures, Atleti then failed to score for two consecutive matches, losing away to Real Sociedad and only managing a draw at home against a defiant Celta de Vigo team. 

Thankfully for Diego Simeone,  his side's short-lived goal drought was ended on Wednesday night, as his team ran out convincing 2-0 winners away to Mallorca. The Rojiblancos finally rediscovered their scoring form which had been lacking in the two previous games, with João Félix, Diego Costa and Koke all combining well to secure the three points. 

Team news

A downside for El Cholo ahead of this weekend's game is that he will be without Álvaro Morata, who was shown a second yellow card following an incident with Mallorca's Salva Sevilla. Aside from that, Atlético look like they'll have a full-strength squad going into the derby. 

Atlético de Madrid predicted XI: Jan Oblak, Kieran Trippier, Stefan Savić, Felipe, Renan Lodi, Saúl, Thomas, Koke, Vitolo, Diego Costa, João Félix

As far as Madrid are concerned, several injury doubts and recent performances make it difficult to predict who will start the match in the Wanda Metropolitano. Both Isco and Luka Modrić passed through Thursday's training session without any problems, which suggests that they should feature. Federico Valverde performed well in midweek against Osasuna, but Zidane may opt for experience ahead of form for his starting XI on Saturday, as Thomas Partey and Koke will undoubtedly be an intimidating presence in the centre of the park. 

James Rodríguez came on for Valverde on Wednesday, slotting into his usual position on the right-hand side of midfield. The Colombian has impressed since his return from a two-year loan spell at Bayern Munich, and despite only featuring for 12 minutes against Osasuna, Zidane has hinted strongly that he will start against Atleti. Should he start, he faces a key battle against Renan Lodi, which could arguably
define the match if either slips up.  

Real Madrid Predicted XI: Thibaut Courtois, Raphaël Varane, Sergio Ramos, Álvaro Odriozola, Marcelo, Luka Modrić, Toni Kroos, Casemiro, Vinícius Junior, James Rodríguez, Karim Benzema

Simeone: "Every game we play in is important for us."

Diego Simeone looked his usual confident self during Friday's press conference and was quick to play down any suggestions that fatigue could play a part in his players' approach go this game. 

"We played two days ago and today we put that behind us. Today we'll be working in two separate groups, and tomorrow we'll seek to convey what every Atlético de Madrid player must be aware of while he's here - every game we play in is important for us."

Zidane appeared confident ahead of Saturday's match. His team have successfully weathered the storm both on an off the field following their ignominious defeat in Paris just nine days ago. 

"We have a match tomorrow and what we want is to win. It will be difficult for us against a very good opponent, but we won't make it easy for them either." Zidane told the press on Friday morning.

"We're motivated to have a good game, and we're ready."