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Atletico Madrid begin the quest to reclaim the La Liga title with a Madrid derby at Getafe on Monday night. Atletico had a solid preseason and given their fine record in this fixture, will be confident of claiming the upper hand.
Getafe endured a difficult time last term as they suffered six defeats in their opening seven matches and looked set to be relegated based on their perfomance in the first half of the season. However, the arrival of Quique Sanchez Flores sparked a resurgence in the second half of the season and they eventually finished 15th.
The task for Sanchez Flores will be to avoid similar problems by making a solid start this season. However, their preseason showing does not inspire much optimism as they picked up just one win in six friendly matches, failing to score in the last three.
There was not much in terms of transfer activity at Getafe this summer with the duo of Luis Milla and Domingos Duarte arriving from Granada. Their biggest piece of business appears to be holding on to Enes Unal, who finished as top scorer last season with 16 La Liga goals.
It was a disappointing campaign for Atletico Madrid last season as they surrendered their title without putting up much of a fight. They were even fears they would miss out on the top four completely before a late blitz saw them clinch third position.
There are few managers in Europe with Diego Simeone’s job security but even he must know a lot of improvement is needed. They impressed in preseason, winning all four of their matches having faced the likes of Manchester United and Juventus.
Atletico Madrid have brought in a few players in the transfer market but Alvaro Morata’s return from loan appears to be the major arrival this summer. The Spanish striker scored four times in his last two preseason matches and will be looking to form a prolific partnership with Joao Felix who has also impressed lately.
How the bookies view it
Atletico Madrid have the upper hand among the bookies with a win priced at 39/40 with SBK. A victory for Getafe is valued at 4/1 by William Hill while a draw is set at odds of 11/5 with SBK.
Head to head
Atletico Madrid have a 26-4 advantage with nine draws from 39 previous matches with Getafe. They did the double over Getafe last season with the meeting at Getafe ending 2-1.
Players to watch
Enes Unal scored 16 La Liga goals last season and is expected to once again be the main man for Getafe. The forward scored twice against Atletico Madrid last term and is priced at 3/1 by Unibet to get on the score sheet on Monday.
Atletico Madrid will be banking on Alvaro Morata to carry his preseason form into the main campaign and the striker is priced at 41/20 by Unibet to find the net on Monday. Joao Felix could also be worth keeping an eye on in the same market at 9/4 with Unibet.
Getafe have a way of getting past Atletico Madrid’s usually sturdy defence, so both teams could be backed to score at 19/13 with SBK. Over 2.5 goals could also be on the cards at 9/5 with Sport Nation.
Atletico Madrid scored in both halves in their last meeting with Getafe and could be set for a repeat at 3/1 with BoyleSports.