Real Madrid are the last remaining team in the top five European leagues with a perfect record for the season and they need to outbattle neighbors Atletico on Sunday to maintain it.
Bookmaker William Hill has the odds at 3.50 for Real to score in both halves on Sunday. The odds are at 3.80 for Atletico to do it.
※ Current Odds Date & Time: September 15th, 8:00 A.M. (EST)
Los Blancos head into the 230th derby of all time in great form but without their best player. Karim Benzema has sat out the last two games with a muscle injury and it’s extremely unlikely that he will be able to help his side on Sunday. It’s a bitter blow for Real, although they have coped well with Benzema’s absence by scoring six goals in two games.
There’s been a big piece missing from the defense as well lately with Eder Militao nursing a hamstring problem, but the Brazilian is expected to be fit for the derby.
Real have scored just once in their last three road derbies and will definitely have to do better offensively if they want to keep their winning run going at Metropolitano Stadium. Can Vinicius Junior keep up his outstanding form?
Vinicius scored in five straight contests before Leipzig found a way to stop him on Wednesday. The 22-year-old has tallied five goals and three assists in eight outings this season and averages a goal involvement every 86 minutes. Stopping him will be the biggest key to success for Atletico on Sunday.
It would be a major boost for Atletico if their defensive efforts against Vinicius Junior & Co. would involve Jan Oblak. Los Colchoneros have been without their talismanic goalkeeper for the last two games and it’s unclear if Oblak is able to play in the derby. He’s been in inconsistent form since the start of last season, but Oblak has won the Zamora Trophy five times as the best goalkeeper of the season in La Liga and the team is definitely stronger with him on the pitch.
Oblak has done particularly well on home turf in the derby and last season’s 1-0 victory at Metropolitano ended a 12-game run without a league win for Atletico in the match-up. They are now hoping to win consecutive league meetings against Real for the first time since having a run of three victories in 2014-2016.
