Atletico Madrid's Angel Correa (L) and Antoine Griezmann. (Photo : Getty Images)
Atletico Madrid (8-2-2, 26 points) slid up to second place in the current league table after Real Madrid lost to Barcelona in last Saturday's El Clasico. This week, Los Colchoneros will face RCD Espanyol (5-6-1, 16 points) at the Vicente Calderón Stadium as the 2015-2016 La Liga season continues.
Los Rojiblancos nipped last season's Segunda Division winners Real Betis, 1-0, at the Estadio Benito Villamarín last Sunday to gain three points and move up behind league-leading Barça and two points over third-running Los Blancos in the overall standings, via Goal.
Spanish midfielder Koke scored the winning goal right at the 7th minute of the match as both teams were unable to score the rest of the way.
It was Atleti's second consecutive victory, fourth in the previous six, as Diego Simeone's squad had been unbeaten in its past six outings.
Meanwhile, Espanyol scored an impressive 2-0 win over bottom-dwelling team Malaga at their Estadi Cornellà-El Prat last Saturday, as per SkySports.
Paraguayan winger Hernan Perez scored a brace in the first half of play to lead Sergio González's men past Los Boquerones and move up to tenth place in the league table.
Los Periquitos is having an up-and-down season so far as they have had two wins, three losses, and a draw in their last six matches.
The predicted result is a tough 2-1 victory for Atletico Madrid. Simeone will continue to rely on French forward Antoine Griezmann and midfielder Yannick Carrasco up front to extend their winning run to three games.
Atletico Madrid starting lineup (4-3-3 formation): Oblak; Gamez, Savic, Godin, Luis; Fernandez, Mendes, Koke; Griezmann, Torres, Carrasco
Espanyol starting lineup (4-2-3-1 formation): Sabata; Rios, Alvaro, Roco, Fuentes; Sanchez, Diop; Perez, Asensio, Alvarez; Caicedo
