The last three games of the seventh round of matches in La Liga are to be played on Thursday evening in Spain, with Atletico Madrid visiting Osasuna, Celta Vigo at home to Deportivo Alaves, and Granada entertaining Real Betis in an Andalusian derby.
Atletico travel to Pamplona boosted by their 3-1 win at home to Real Madrid on Sunday, but they have paid an injury price for that win, with forward Angel Correa suffering a twisted knee ligament in a wild challenge from Jude Bellingham towards the end of the game.
Correa joins Rodrigo de Paul, Thomas Lemar, Pablo Barrios and Reinildo Mandava on Atletico’s injury list against a rival still searching for their first home win of the campaign, while Stefan Savic is also a doubt after suffering bad cramps in his calves on Sunday.
Granada coach Paco Lopez needs to stem the flow of goals his side are conceding.
Granada have conceded 17 goals in their first six matches of the season, which could give hope to a rival that has only scored six times.
Thursday also sees Celta at home to Alaves in a match between two sides who both lost at the weekend, with Alaves beaten 2-0 at home by Athletic Bilbao and also losing defender Ruben Duarte to a muscle injury.
Celta coach Rafael Benitez will have a psychological job to do after his players surrendered a 2-0 lead away to Barcelona, who scored three goals in the last nine minutes of the game.
On Tuesday night, Fermin Lopez and Raphinha scored as Barcelona were held 2-2 away with Mallorca, while Sevilla bounced back to form with a 5-1 thrashing of Almeria.
Real Madrid at home to Las Palmas while Valencia against Real Sociedad are two standout matches on Wednesday night.
