Valencia vs Atletico Madrid Preview: Classic Encounter, Head to Head, Team News & More

Valencia and Atletico Madrid return to La Liga action this weekend when they face eachother at the Estadio Mestalla on Saturday afternoon (3:15pm UK).

Both sides have showed promising starts to their campaigns, sitting on four points after two games. Valencia beat Las Palmas on the opening day of the season, before battling to a well deserved draw against champions Real Madrid at the Bernabeu.

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Atleti fought back to draw 2-2 against Girona in their first match, before thumping Las Palmas 5-1 last time out, before the international break.

Here's everything you need to know before the match on Saturday:

Classic Encounter

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Atletico Madrid 4-1 Valencia (La Liga, February 2010)

With Valencia looking to close the gap on second placed Real Madrid and Atletico needing a win to desperately push themselves away from the relegation zone, few could've predicted the result at Vicente Calderon.

David Silva broke the deadlock for the away side as he advanced into the box before calmly rounding David de Gea and putting Los Che 1-0 up. Carlos Marchena was then sent off for a handball in the area after 31 minutes and Diego Forlan levelled the score from the penalty spot.

Atleti dominated the second half and would have been out of sight if it wasn't for the outstanding performance of Valencia stopper Cesar Sanchez, as he denied Sergio Aguero and Jose Antonio Reyes superbly in quick succession.

Aguero then put the home side ahead with 79 minutes on the clock as they broke the ten men's resistance. Things went from bad to worse for Unai Emery's side, as they were reduced to nine men when Miguel was sent off with seven minutes to play.

Forlan and Jose Jurado then added further goals to provide some gloss to the scoreline as Atleti earned a vital three points.

Head to Head Record

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It's a fairly even record when it comes to the two side's head to head meetings, with Atletico triumphing 15 times, in comparison to Valencia's 11, there have also been 11 draws between them.

There has only ever been two 0-0 draws in the 29 league meeting between the two, so goals should be on the horizon when it comes to the game on Saturday. Atletico have had the better of the recent results over Valencia being unbeaten against them since 2014 when they lost 3-1.

Diego Simeone's men did the double over Los Che last season winning 3-0 at Vicente Calderon in March and winning 2-0 in October on their last visit to the Mestalla,despite missing two penalties, courtesy of goals from Antoine Griezmann and Kevin Gameiro.

Team News

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Marcelino will be unable to use the services of Nani after the Portuguese international joined Lazio on deadline day. With Ruben Vezo definitely missing the visit of Atleti through injury, but will be boosted by the loan signings of Goncalo Guedes and Andreas Pereira from PSG and Manchester United.

Atletico will be without the services of star man Griezmann as he serves the final game of his suspension following his red card against Girona. Captain Gabi may well return after regaining fitness from an injury that saw him miss the opening two games, meaning Simeone may well make a couple of changes from the Las Palmas game.

Predicted Valencia Lineup: Neto; Montoya, Garay, Murillo, Gaya; Guedes, Kondogbia, Parejo, Carlos Soler, Zaza, Rodrigo

Predicted Atleti Lineup: Oblak; Vrsaljko, Godin, Gimenez, Filipe Luis; Koke, Gabi, Saul, Carrasco; Gameiro, Correa

Prediction

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You'd expect there to be goals in what will be and end to end game, but Atleti will have just enough to see off the threat of a revitalised Valencia.

Valencia 1-2 Atletico Madrid