Atletico Madrid vs Las Palmas Match Preview: Classic Encounter, Key Battles, Team News & More

Atletico Madrid head into Sunday's game with las Palmas with a desire to get back to winning ways after losing midweek afainst Sevilla in the Copa del Rey.

It was a highly disappointing defeat at the Wanda Metropolitano, and gone is arguably their best chance of any silverware this season.

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Diego Simeone's side are 11 points behind runaway La Liga leaders Barcelona, and are still desperately awaiting a slip up. So far, it's only happened on three occasions but even then they have been draws and not defeat.

The rest have been wins and the league just has the feeling that the title will be returning to Catalonia come May - but Atleti still have to go about their business and win as many games as possible.

In their way of three potential points on Sunday are Las Palmas, who currently lie second bottom in the league table and are facing a relegation dogfight.

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Paco Jemez's team have won just four out of their 20 top flight matches so far, but one of those wins came last weekend against high-flying Valencia, suggesting there is some fight there to stay up.

Before that though it was four defeats in their last five in the league, including a 6-0 drubbing against Girona, so it will be important for them to try and be competitive against Atleti.

In the reverse fixtures between these two sides back in August it finished 5-1 to Atletico, but could it be a closer affair this time around?

Classic Encounter

Atletico Madrid 2-3 Las Palmas (January 2017)

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A great game occurred between these two sides this time last year, which resulted in a Las Palmas defing the odds and coming out on top in La Liga.

Shortly after losing out to Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi in the Ballon d'Or standings, Antoine Griezmann tried to take out his frustrations on Las Palmas in the Copa del Rey with a brace, but it wasn't enough to help his side to victory as the spirited visitors came from 2-1 down to win 3-2 thanks to last minute goals from Marko Livaja and Mateo Garcia.

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Despite the brilliant win, Atletico still progressed to the quarter-finals courtesy of their 2-0 advantage from the first leg, but Las Palmas were more than given their due credit.

Key Battles

Jonathan Viera vs Thomas Partey

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Las Palmas' danger man will be hoping to find pockets of space in and around Thomas Partey on Sunday. He is their best source of creativity, and the Ghanaian will just need to be a little wary of his influence.

Diego Costa vs Alejandro Galvez

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Atletico striker Diego Costa will be looking to take the game to Alejandro Galvez and come out on top against him in a physical battle. The Brazilian-born Spaniard has one La Liga goal since finally becoming a registered player earlier in the transfer window, and he'll be eyeing Las Palmas as an opportunity to add to that.

Jonathan Calleri vs Diego Godin

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The former West Ham striker is in for a tough night against Diego Godin, but if he can rustle him early and give him nothing, there might be chance for him to force a mistake for the usually reliable Uruguayan.

Team News

Atletico

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Diego Simeone won't be able to call on his usual full-backs for the game - Sime Vrsaljko is suspended and Filipe Luis is out with a hamstring injury.

Las Palmas

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Sergi Samper is a long term injury absentee after fracturing his fibula and rupturing his ankle ligaments. Miguel, Pedro Bigas and Momo are all sidelined.

Predicted Line Ups

Atletico (4-4-2): Oblak/Juanfran, Godin, Savic, Hernandez/Correa, Thomas, Gabi, Saul/Griezmann, Costa.

Las Palmas (4-5-1): Chichizola/Navarro, Galvez, Gomez, Castellano/Penalba, Toledo, Tana, Viera, Jairo/Calleri.

Prediction

Atletico Madrid will be hungry to try and atone for their defeat to Sevilla in the Copa del Rey in midweek, but it's all to play for for relegation-threatened Las Palmas. It should be a much tighter game than gameweek two, but Atleti should just have enough to deal with the visitors.

PREDICTED SCORE: 2-0 Atletico.