Athletic Club vs Villarreal Betting Odds, Tips, Predictions, Preview 14th April 2024

When Villarreal come to San Mames for the La Liga match on Sunday, Athletic Club will be hoping to use their home advantage to their advantage.

Ranked as number 5 in the La Liga standings, Athletic Club, have so far collected 56 points this season, while Villarreal collected 38 points. This puts them up as number 10 after 30 rounds.

Aiming for a place inside the top six, Athletic Club need to strut their stuff against Villarreal on Sunday. The latter might not look like a team currently possessing the qualities to stop the home side from claiming a win, but they will be eager to spring a surprise.

Athletic Club are relatively average in the art of goal-scoring these days. They scored a steady 12 goals in their previous ten matches, for an average of 1.2 per game. They simultaneously allowed their opponents eight goals, or an average of 0.8 a game. Furthermore, they fought their way to six clean sheets in this run.

Villarreal scored 21 goals, conceded 12 and held on for a clean sheet in two of their last ten matches.

Villarreal were knocked out cold when Athletic Club took a 3-2 win in their latest encounter. It served as pay back for the 5-1 defeat, Villarreal handed out in the game before.

Athletic Club vs Villarreal Prediction

Athletic Club Form

In the last three outings, Athletic Club beat Deportivo Alaves by 2-0, lost 2-0 against Real Madrid, before drawing 1-1 with Mallorca. Athletic Club have been in potent form at San Mames, winning no less than five of the past six La Liga matches here. They remained without defeat, as they drew once, hammered in 12 goals while letting in three.

Villarreal Form

Villarreal won twice in their last three matches as Marseille were defeated by 3-1, before they beat Valencia 1-0. Atletico Madrid proved too strong, though, and a 1-2 defeat followed. Villarreal managed a decent return of three wins in their last six La Liga away matches, in which they scored 13 while also conceding 13 times. They also experienced one draw and two defeats.

Bookmakers have Athletic Club down as rather big favourites for the win, when Villarreal arrive at San Mames. While it might prove problematic, we still believe they will come through and deliver.

Villarreal took 15 points from their last 14 games against teams from the top half of the La Liga table. They won five, scored 26 goals and conceded 33. Athletic Club claimed 16 wins, eight draws as well as six defeats in the La Liga this season. Villarreal enjoy a record of ten wins, eight draws and 12 defeats in the La Liga.

Athletic Club vs Villarreal Squads

Athletic Club Squad

Ernesto Valverde will choose the starting lineup for the upcoming game against Villarreal from the players listed below (the information in the brackets refers to goals scored and matches played in the La Liga this season):

Julen Agirrezabala (0/1), Unai Simon (0/29), Aitor Paredes (1/28), Daniel Vivian (0/27), Hugo Rincon (0/0), Imanol Garcia de Albeniz (0/6), Inigo Lekue (0/21), Oscar de Marcos (1/23), Yeray Alvarez (0/13), Yuri Berchiche (3/22), Ander Herrera (0/17), Benat Prados (0/20), Dani Garcia (1/13), Inigo Ruiz de Galarreta (1/24), Mikel Jauregizar (0/4), Mikel Vesga (3/22), Oihan Sancet (3/27), Raul Garcia (0/13), Unai Gomez (2/20), Alex Berenguer (6/27), Asier Villalibre (1/13), Gorka Guruzeta (13/29), Iker Muniain (1/16), Inaki Williams (9/27), Malcom Ares (0/10), Nico Williams (3/24).

Villarreal Squad

Here is the full team squad of Villarreal. The 58 year-old Marcelino Garcia will select his starting lineup from the following players:

Filip Joergensen (0/29), Iker Alvarez (0/0), Pepe Reina (0/0), Adria Altimira (0/11), Aissa Mandi (1/14), Alberto Moreno (1/22), Antonio Espigares (0/0), Daniel Budesca (0/0), Eric Bailly (0/7), Jorge Cuenca (3/23), Juan Foyth (1/12), Kiko (0/16), Raul Albiol (0/22), Stefan Lekovic (0/0), Yerson Mosquera (0/8), Alejandro Baena (2/27), Dani Requena (0/0), Daniel Parejo (2/25), Denis Suarez (0/0), Etienne Capoue (1/28), Francis Coquelin (0/12), Manuel Trigueros (0/11), Ramon Terrats (0/14), Santi Comesana (2/21), Alexander Soerloth (14/26), Alfonso Pedraza (1/15), Bertrand Traore (0/5), Gerard Moreno (10/27), Goncalo Guedes (2/9), Ilias Akhomach (1/23), Jorge Pascual (0/0), Jose Luis Morales (6/23), Yeremi Pino (0/7).

Athletic Club vs Villarreal Team News

Athletic Club seem to only have two players missing from the squad ahead of their upcoming assignment on Sunday. Inigo Ruiz de Galarreta gets a day off from the Athletic Club squad, as he serves out a suspension.

Athletic Club are unable to field Nico Williams this coming Sunday against Villarreal, as he is sidelined with an injury.

Villarreal could have up to seven players on the injured and absent players for their match this coming Sunday atSan Mames Alfonso Pedraza is suspended from the Villarreal squad with too many penalty points to his name.

Names like Eric Bailly, Alfonso Pedraza, Ramon Terrats, Daniel Parejo, Juan Foyth, Yeremi Pino and Denis Suarez most likely won't be deemed fit enough to play Athletic Club.

Athletic Club vs Villarreal Lineups

Athletic Club vs Villarreal H2H

Villarreal lost 3-2 against Athletic Club in their latest encounter. This served as pay back for the 5-1 defeat, Villarreal handed out in the match before. Athletic Club go into their upcoming match against Villarreal with a 40% winning record in recent meetings. This gives them a 4-5-1 record in the latest encounters with their next opponent. A record worth keeping in mind before you make a choice for your next accumulator, depending on your betting strategy.

Athletic Club vs Villarreal Results

Recent meetings between Athletic Club and visiting side Villarreal might have been action-packed, but not rich on goals. Backing under 2.5 goals was a winning bet no less than seven times in the last ten matches. Under 2.5 goals is best priced at odds of 23/20 with the bookies.

Athletic Club vs Villarreal Betting Tips

Alexander Soerloth look like great value to find the back of the net on Sunday, having hit the target six times in recent La Liga matches for Villarreal. His total for the season says 14 goals scored in this La Liga campaign. With four goals lately for Athletic Club in the La Liga, Gorka Guruzeta is also a player worth mentioning.

Athletic Club won eight of their last 10 matches on home soil, while drawing two in a run that saw them avoid defeat in front of their home supporters. Villarreal won four of their last 10 away games across all tournaments, whilst also drawing two and losing four. Athletic Club are no doubt looking for goals on Sunday, since Villarreal have been unable to keep a clean sheet in their last 10 away games. The former fought their way to six clean sheets in their last 10 games on home soil.

Under 2.5 goals happened three times in the last ten encounters between these two rivals. Athletic Club managed an average of 1.2 goals, with Villarreal averaging 1.2 goals in these. Both teams not to score was a winning bet three times in this run of matches. Athletic Club saw over 2.5 goals in three of their last ten matches across all tournaments, as they scored an average of 1.3 goals during this run. Of the last ten games for Villarreal, six had more than 2.5 goals, while they managed to score an average of 1.8 times goals per game.