Atletico chase seventh straight win in Spain

MADRID, Spain (AP):

Atletico Madrid will visit Las Palmas today looking for their seventh consecutive win in the Spanish league.

Diego Simeone’s team hasn’t lost since a 3-0 defeat at Valencia in September. That was the team’s only defeat in the league so far. Atletico enter the weekend in third place with 25 points, three behind Real Madrid and Girona at the top but with a game in hand.

Las Palmas have won four of their last six league matches and are 10th after 11 matches. They have lost eight straight league games against Atletico.

FRANCE

Second-place Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) can take the top spot in the French league by avoiding defeat against Montpellier today. Nice lead the lead with 22 points from 10 games with PSG in second on 21.

PSG had a narrow escape at Brest last weekend, winning 3-2 with a late penalty but are looking to extend their winning streak to five games in all competitions. The defending champions will be missing defender Danilo (hamstring). Montpellier forward Akor Adams (seven goals) is the second most prolific scorer in the league this season behind PSG striker Kylian Mbappe (10). Montpellier sit in 11th place with 11 points.

ITALY

After a mixed start to the season, Lazio will be looking for their fourth straight Serie A win when they face Bologna today. Lazio won only two of their first seven league matches, but three straight wins lifted the team to seventh in the table. Another victory would send Lazio level with fourth-place Atalanta ahead of the rest of the weekend’s fixtures. But they are only a point above Bologna, who have lost only one of their 10 league matches. Bologna have drawn five of their past seven, however.

GERMANY

Two teams in need of a win meet as 14th-place Darmstadt host 16th-place Bochum in the Bundesliga. Darmstadt are seeking to bounce back from an 8-0 loss to Bayern Munich last week. They will, however, be without Klaus Gjasula and Matej Maglica, who have each been banned for two games for red cards in the Bayern match. Bochum have not won all season, but they have repeatedly come close, with five draws from nine games.