Espanyol v Atletico Madrid: Preview, predicted line-ups & team news

Diego Simeone has spent the week telling everyone that Atletico Madrid are not as good as their results suggest. That is the sort of message a manager sends when his side is second in La Liga on 19 points and he does not want anyone relaxing.

Simeone said: "Winning five games doesn't mean we're doing things very well, just well." He added that his side have areas to improve both defensively and offensively.

The test comes at RCDE Stadium on Saturday lunchtime. Espanyol are a team that has found it hard to turn decent performances into points, and Atletico arrive with two midfielders missing.

Atletico have won six, drawn one and lost one of their eight league games. They have scored 18 goals, an average of 2.3 a game, and conceded eight. Four of those wins have come in succession, against Real Sociedad, Osasuna, Real Madrid and Alaves, with the latest a 2-1 success at Alaves last Saturday.

The one league defeat was a 3-0 loss at Athletic Club on 5 September. Since then they have won every league game and kept three clean sheets across the season. They also score late: seven of their 18 goals have come between the 76th minute and full time.

Espanyol have won two, drawn two and lost four of their eight, a return of eight points. Their last outing was a 1-1 draw at Malaga on 9 October, which followed a 3-1 home defeat to Elche and a 2-1 loss at Rayo Vallecano in September.

They have scored 11 and conceded 11, so they are not being blown away. The trouble is that they concede late. Four of their 12 goals against by minute have come after the 75th minute, and they have lost three games by a single goal.

Their best result came at Osasuna, a 2-0 win on 12 September. At home they have won one, drawn one and lost two.

Atletico's last eight league games read six wins, one draw and one defeat. Espanyol's read two wins, two draws and four defeats. The trend is stark. Atletico have not dropped a league point since the loss at Athletic, while Espanyol have won once in their last six. The surface form does flatter the hosts a little, though. Their expected goals figures of 1.21 for and 1.28 against suggest they are not as poor as the results say. Atletico's 1.76 for and 1.05 against suggest their form is deserved.

Atletico are second on 19 points from eight games, level with Real Betis and one clear of Real Madrid on 18. Barcelona lead on 24 points with a perfect eight wins, so the gap at the top is five points. Another win would keep Atletico in touch with the leaders and ahead of the pack behind them.

Espanyol have eight points from eight games. The supplied table snapshot does not show their position, but a home defeat would leave them with eight points from nine, and a win would lift them to 11. Sevilla are fifth on 14 points, so the hosts are some way off the European places and still need results more than anything else.

The last 10 meetings produced one Espanyol win, five draws and four Atletico wins. They averaged 3.1 goals per game. Both teams scored in nine of the 10 (90%) and six of the 10 went over 2.5 goals (60%). The most recent meeting was a 4-2 Atletico win at the Metropolitano on 21 February 2026.

Espanyol will take heart from the fact that they won this fixture 2-1 at RCDE Stadium in August 2025, and they drew 1-1 at home in March 2025. This is not a fixture Atletico have dominated. The pattern points to goals at both ends, and the markets reflect that, with both teams to score at 3/4. A 2-1 or 1-1 scoreline fits the history better than a comfortable clean-sheet win.

Atletico average 17.6 shots and 6.5 on target per game over their last eight. Espanyol manage 13 shots and 3.9 on target. Atletico also have 58.5% possession to the hosts' 48.5%.

The corner count underlines it. Atletico win 5.6 corners per game and concede 2.6. Espanyol win 2.1 and concede 4.6. The hosts will spend long spells defending, and their late-goal problem is a worry against a side that scores 39% of its goals in the final 15 minutes.

Espanyol are likely to line up in a 4-2-3-1, which they have used in seven of their eight games. Atletico mostly play 4-4-2, and with Koke and Cardoso out, the midfield is where the selection decisions sit.

**Espanyol: Cabrera, Hartman; Lozano, Puado, C.

**Atletico Madrid: Le Normand, Hancko, Pubill; Baena, Barrios, Hjulmand, Lee; Sørloth, Lookman

The game kicks off at 13:00 BST on Saturday 17 October at RCDE Stadium. In the UK it is shown on Premier Sports where selected, which holds the La Liga rights this season. A specific channel has not been confirmed, and this page will be updated closer to kick-off.

The strongest angle is the price gap between two lines that both look sound. Atletico at 4/6 is short, but it is backed by 18 goals scored and 10 conceded fewer than the hosts' tally of attacking output suggests. Goals at both ends are the other lean, given nine of the last 10 meetings had both teams scoring. The builder leans on Atletico's winning habit and Sørloth's role up front.