Atletico Madrid will be looking to move onto seven points in Group D when they welcome Bayer Leverkusen to the Wanda Metropolitano in the Champions League on Tuesday night.
Diego Simeone's side are currently second in the section on four points, while Leverkusen are fourth having lost both of their group matches to Lokomotiv Moscow and Juventus.
Match preview
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Atletico have made a positive start to their 2019-20 Champions League campaign, picking up four points from their two fixtures thus far. Simeone's team started with a 2-2 draw at home to Juventus on September 18 before recording a 2-0 victory away to Lokomotiv Moscow last time out.
Another win on Tuesday night would place the Spanish outfit in a strong position, but their form in recent weeks has not been convincing. Indeed, while only one defeat represents a successful start to the season, Atletico have only won one of their last six in the league, posting four draws in the process.
Valencia held Simeone's side at the Wanda Metropolitano on Saturday afternoon, but the capital giants are still in a decent position in La Liga, sitting just three points off leaders Barcelona after Real Madrid lost at Mallorca.
Their attention will now be on the Champions League, though, and having won 18 of their last 23 European matches on home soil, Atletico are rightly considered as the favourites to put another three points on the board on Tuesday night.
What's more, the Madrid outfit are on a nine-match unbeaten run at home to German clubs in European football. Meanwhile, they have only lost three of their last 24 matches in continental competition, which represents excellent form at this level of football.
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Leverkusen, though, will enter the match off the back of a poor run of results. Indeed, Peter Bosz's side are without a win in any competition since the end of September, losing two of their last three matches.
Friday's defeat at Eintracht Frankfurt in the Bundesliga was the second time that they had lost 3-0 in their last three matches having also been on the wrong end of the same scoreline when they travelled to Juve in the Champions League on October 1.
As mentioned, Leverkusen are yet to pick up a point in Group D having also lost at home to Lokomotiv Moscow on September 18. The German side now face back-to-back games against Atletico and will have to pick up a couple of positive results if they have ambitions of qualifying for the round of 16.
Die Werkself have actually reached the last 16 or better in seven of their last eight Champions League campaigns, which is an indication of their standing in the competition. That said, the German side have only won two of their last 15 Champions League matches, which will be a concern ahead of this clash.
Leverkusen actually faced Atletico during the last-16 stage of the 2016-17 competition, and despite claiming a 0-0 in the Spanish capital, the Bundesliga side were knocked out as Atletico advanced to the quarter-finals courtesy of a 4-2 aggregate win.
Atletico Madrid form: DW
Bayer Leverkusen form: LL
Team News
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Kieran Trippier and Renan Lodi were both on the Atletico bench against Valencia on Saturday afternoon but should return for this match.
Stefan Savic is on the sidelines with a muscular problem that he picked up on international duty, though, meaning that Mario Hermoso is expected to start in central defence.
Vitolo is also out with a hamstring problem, and the Spaniard has been joined on the sidelines by Joao Felix, who picked up an ankle injury during Atletico's clash with Valencia on Saturday afternoon.
As a result, Thomas Lemar is expected to join Saul Niguez, Koke and Thomas Partey in midfield with Diego Costa and Alvaro Morata in attack.
As for Leverkusen, Jonathan Tah missed Germany's matches against Argentina and Estonia over the international break due to illness – the defender was then an unused substitute against Frankfurt on Friday but should return for this game.
Charles Aranguiz and Daley Sinkgraven are doubts with metatarsal and thigh injuries respectively, but Leon Bailey has returned to training after a muscular problem and could make the starting XI.
Kai Havertz - believed to be on the radar of a number of European clubs - is likely to feature in a wide position while Lucas Alario is expected to lead the line in a 4-2-3-1 formation despite only scoring once this season.
Atletico Madrid possible starting lineup: Oblak; Trippier, Gimenez, Hermoso, Lodi; Saul, Koke, Thomas, Lemar; Costa, Morata
Bayer Leverkusen possible starting lineup: Hradecky; Weiser, Tah, Bender, Wendell; Aranguiz, Baumgartlinger; Bailey, Demirbay, Havertz; Alario
We say: Atletico Madrid 1-0 Bayer Leverkusen
Neither team has been full of goals in recent weeks, and we are not expecting a hugely entertaining affair at the Wanda Metropolitano on Tuesday night. Atletico are so strong on home soil, though, and we fancy Simeone's side to put another three points on the board in Group D.
Matt Law
