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Espanyol entertain reigning champions Atletico Madrid at the RCDE Stadium on Sunday as La Liga action resumes after the international break.
Atletico Madrid recorded back-to-back wins in their opening two fixtures and were held to a 2-2 draw by Villareal in their previous league match. Espanyol are winless, having played two draws and in their last outing suffered a 1-0 loss to Mallorca.
New signing Antoine Griezmann is expected to be available for this trip to Barcelona.
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Espanyol vs Atletico Madrid Head-to-Head
There have been 172 meetings between the two teams so far. The home team have been able to get some positive results in their recent encounters with the Madrid-based outfit, but have generally been the second-best side in the fixture.
Los Colchoneros have 90 wins to their name while the hosts have emerged victorious on 51 occasions. The spoils have been shared 31 times between the two sides.
In their last eight encounters, both sides have three wins to their names and two games have ended in stalemates. Their last meeting was in the 2019-20 La Liga campaign at Sunday's venue. The game ended in a 1-1 draw.
Espanyol form guide (La Liga): L-D-D
Atletico Madrid form guide (La Liga): D-W-W
Espanyol vs Atletico Madrid Team News
Espanyol
As per the latest press conference by Espanyol, Yangel Herrera and Keidi Baré are the only players who will be missing from the squad for this home game. Herrera is nursing an injury while Baré is not yet fit enough to appear in this match.
Adrià Pedrosa has been training with the squad but remains a doubt here as he faces a late fitness test. Sergi Gómez picked up a straight red card in the 1-0 loss to Mallorca and is suspended for this match.
Injury: Yangel Herrera
Suspension: Sergi Gómez
Doubtful: Keidi Baré, Adrià Pedrosa
Atletico Madrid
For the visiting side, the only doubts are the players who'll be returning late from their commitments with their national teams, namely José María Giménez, Matheus Cunha and Ángel Correa.
Griezmann is all set to make his return for the club while Luis Suarez should also be ready to start here.
Injury: None
Suspension: None
Doubtful: José María Giménez, Matheus Cunha, Ángel Correa
Espanyol vs Atletico Madrid Predicted XI
Espanyol Predicted XI (4-2-3-1): Diego Lopez; Fernando Calero, Dídac Vilà, Leandro Cabrera, Oscar Gil; David Lopez, Sergi Darder; Landry Dimata, Adrian Embarba, Javier Puado; Raul de Tomas
Atletico Madrid Predicted XI (3-1-4-2): Jan Oblak; Geoffrey Kondogbia, Stefan Savić, Mario Hermoso; Rodrigo De Paul; Yannick Carrasco, Koke, Thomas Lemar, Marcos Llorente; Antoine Griezmann, Luis Suárez
Espanyol vs Atletico Madrid Prediction
Periquitos are yet to open their account for the season but have kept two clean sheets in their three games. It will be difficult for the hosts to cause any problems for the in-form visitors and we predict an easy win for the reigning champions.
Prediction: Espanyol 0-2 Atletico Madrid
