Pretty confident on this pick.

Atletico Madrid is finally playing at their level and getting good results in La Liga. Right now they are 3rd, just 3 points below Barcelona and 6 below Madrid, but with the same as Betis and Real Sociedad (5th and 6th).

The team is playing well, especially in attack where several players are in good form.

They have three victories in a row in La Liga, two of them against strong teams like Athletic (0:1) and Sevilla (0:2), both playing away.

But on the other hand Rayo Vallecano is very far from their best level. They are playing so bad, struggling to create chances and of course, to score goals due to the low quality they have upfront. They are not creating as many chances as last season, and they are winning less points.

Meanwhile, they continue playing with an offensive style so are leaving spaces in defense and conceding chances. This was supplied last season with a strong attack with many chances created (and goals scored), but this season their attack is on a very poor level and the team isn’t producing too much.

Key player for the team is out for this game - midfielder Trejo. He is very important to give consistency to the team, organize and start the attacks.

Furthermore, it’s probably to see some rotations here by Rayo, a team who isn't accustomed to playing midweek games. The last time that coach Iraola made rotations (without any reason) was against Almeria: the team made an awful performance, conceding 3 goals in the first 38 minutes and losing the game 3:1. Then in the half time made some changes but the team wasn’t able to react.

This is a clear signal that the reserves of this team are very weak and far from the level of the starters. And playing against Cadiz at the weekend, the common sense should be to rotate here and use the strong squad in the next game against a direct rival for the relegation battle.

Both teams are in opposite dynamics. I’m expecting a brave Rayo Vallecano as always, trying to attack and leaving spaces at the back. Atletico will be happy giving them the ball and playing at counters, with their great assistants and fast strikers to take advantage of those space. Last season when Rayo was at a much higher level and Atletico was worse than now, Simeone’s guys already won both games 0:1 and 2:0.

Also is expected to see a stronger lineup by Atletico, with better players and able to rotate maintaining the high level and competitiviness, in opposition as Rayo Vallecano.

对这场比赛很有信心。

马德里竞技队终于回到了他们的水平上，并在西甲取得了不错的成绩。目前他们排名第 3，仅比巴塞罗那低 3 分，比马德里低 6 分，但与贝蒂斯和皇家社会相同（第 5 和第 6）。

球队表现得很好，尤其是在几名进攻球员状态良好。

他们在西甲取得了三连胜，其中两场都是客场对阵竞技（0:1）和塞维利亚（0:2）等强队。

但另一方面，巴列卡诺离他们的最佳水平还很远。他们的表现如此糟糕，努力创造机会，当然，由于他们的前期实力低下，他们也很难进球。他们创造的机会没有上赛季那么多，他们赢得的积分也更少。

与此同时，他们继续坚持自己的攻势打法，因此在防守上留下空间并丢掉机会。这是上赛季的一次强有力的进攻，创造了很多机会（和进球），但本赛季他们的进攻水平很差，球队的效率也不高。

球队的关键球员缺席了这场比赛——中场球员特雷霍。他对球队的一致性、组织和发起进攻非常重要。

此外，巴列卡诺可能会进行一些轮换，这支球队不习惯打周中比赛。主教练伊劳拉上一次轮换（没有任何理由）是对阵阿尔梅里亚：球队表现糟糕，前38分钟丢了3球，以3:1输掉比赛。然后在半场进行了一些改变，但球队无法做出反应。

这是一个明显的信号，这支球队的后备力量非常薄弱，与首发水平相差甚远。而周末对阵加的斯，常识应该是轮换到这里，在接下来的比赛中利用主力阵容对阵直接对手进行保级战。

两支球队处于相反的动态中。我期待巴列卡诺一如既往，试图攻击和在后面留下空间。马竞将很高兴给他们球权并进行反击，他们的出色助手和快速前锋可以利用这些空间。上个赛季，当巴列卡诺的水平更高而马竞比现在更糟糕时，西蒙尼的球员已经以 0:1 和 2:0 赢了两场比赛。

马竞拥有更强的阵容，拥有更好的球员，能够轮换保持高水平和竞争力。