The spotlight is on Espanyol and Athletic Bilbao, as the pair go looking to boost their confidence. They face each other this coming Saturday at RCDE Stadium in the La Liga.
The mood at Espanyol is probably far from ideal, following four defeats in the last six matches across all tournaments recently. The home side needs to improve performances against Athletic Bilbao to turn the situation around.
Espanyol go into their next La Liga match, scoring a humble average of 1.2 per game in their last ten matches. They scored a mundane 12 times, while conceding 18. That amounts to an average of 1.8 per game, where they kept their opponents from scoring two times.
Athletic Bilbao scored 11 goals, conceded 11 and managed two clean sheets in their previous ten matches.
The last time these two teams faced off against each other, Espanyol came away as 0-1 winners. No doubt they are planning a similar outcome on Saturday.
Espanyol vs Athletic Bilbao Prediction
Espanyol Form
Espanyol have had to endure a tough spell in their last three matches, from which they have nothing to show. They were beaten 3-1 by Real Madrid, before Celta Vigo ran out 1-3 winners. A third defeat on the trot followed against Girona, who came out 2-1 winners. Espanyol managed to win two of their past six home matches in the La Liga. In the remaining four, they drew two and lost two, as they scored nine and conceded ten goals.
Athletic Bilbao Form
In their last three matches, Athletic Bilbao beat Real Valladolid 1-3, drew 0-0 with Getafe and beat Osasuna by 1-0. Athletic Bilbao, meanwhile, won twice, while they've drawn one and lost three in their last six away in the La Liga.
Going forward, Espanyol and Athletic Bilbao are both in decent form, while at the same time being generous in defence. We are confident, both teams will find the back of the net on Saturday.
Athletic Bilbao won eight of their previous nine encounters with opponents from the bottom six of the La Liga. They scored 25 and conceded five goals and collected 24 points. Espanyol are looking at a record of six wins, nine draws and 12 defeats in the La Liga this season. Athletic Bilbao are looking at ten wins, seven draws and ten defeats in the La Liga.
Espanyol vs Athletic Bilbao Stats
- In 7 of the last 8 matches Espanyol played, both teams scored
- In 7 of the last 8 home matches Espanyol played, both teams scored
- Espanyol have scored in 15 of the last 16 matches
- Espanyol have scored in 13 of the last 14 home matches
- Espanyol have lost the last 3 matches in a row and both teams scored at the same time
- Athletic Bilbao have conceded in 10 of the last 11 matches
- Athletic Bilbao have conceded in 8 of the last 9 away matches
- In 3 of the last 4 Athletic Bilbao matches the sum of goals was under 1.5
- In 3 of the last 4 Athletic Bilbao away matches the sum of goals was under 1.5
- In 5 of the last 6 Athletic Bilbao away matches the sum of goals was under 3.5
Espanyol vs Athletic Bilbao Squads
Espanyol Squad
Alvaro Fernandez (0/11), Angel Fortuno (0/0), Fernando Pacheco (0/7), Joan Garcia (0/0), Adria Pedrosa (0/0), Aleix Vidal (0/20), Brian Olivan (1/23), Cesar Montes (0/10), Fernando Calero (0/19), Leandro Cabrera (0/23), Omar El Hilali (0/5), Oscar Gil (0/23), Ronael Pierre-Gabriel (0/6), Ruben Sanchez (0/15), Sergi Gomez (0/21), Wassim Keddari (0/5), Daniel Villahermosa (0/0), Denis Suarez (0/8), Edu Exposito (2/21), Javier Puado (3/26), Jose Carlos Lazo (1/11), Jose Gragera (1/7), Keidi Bare (0/12), Luca Koleosho (0/0), Roger Martinez (0/0), Sergi Darder (4/27), Vinicius de Souza Costa (0/25), Daniel Gomez (0/7), Joselu (12/24), Martin Braithwaite (9/22), Nabili Touaizi (0/0), Nico Ribaudo (0/21).
Athletic Bilbao Squad
Below is the full team squad of Athletic Bilbao. The manager Valverde will pick his starting XI against Espanyol from these players:
Alex Padilla (0/0), Ander Iruarrizaga (0/0), Julen Agirrezabala (0/6), Unai Simon (0/22), Aitor Paredes (0/8), Ander Capa (0/5), Daniel Vivian (1/19), Inigo Lekue (0/18), Inigo Martinez (1/12), Mikel Balenziaga (0/3), Oscar de Marcos (0/27), Yeray Alvarez (1/22), Yuri Berchiche (1/18), Ander Herrera (0/8), Dani Garcia (0/18), Mikel Vesga (3/26), Oier Zarraga (0/20), Oihan Sancet (8/26), Raul Garcia (2/26), Unai Vencedor (0/7), Alex Berenguer (3/26), Gorka Guruzeta (6/20), Iker Muniain (0/23), Inaki Williams (5/25), Jon Morcillo (0/10), Luis Bilbao (0/0), Malcom Ares (0/0), Nico Serrano (0/0), Nico Williams (4/26).
Espanyol vs Athletic Bilbao Team News
At the time of writing, it looks as if only two players are unavailable for Espanyol, when they prepare for their upcoming assignment.
Keidi Bare and Adria Pedrosa are missing from the squad, Espanyol will field against Athletic Bilbaoon Saturday.
Athletic Bilbao seem to have only one player on the injured and absent list, when they travel to RCDE Stadium to face Espanyol.
Inigo Martinez won't be travelling with Athletic Bilbao this time, as he nurses an injury.
Espanyol vs Athletic Bilbao Lineups
Espanyol vs Athletic Bilbao H2H
Espanyol beat Athletic Bilbao by 1-0 in their most recent match, while Athletic Bilbao claimed a 2-1 win in the match prior to that. In finished in a stalemate four times in the last ten encounters between Espanyol and Athletic Bilbao. They both claimed three wins, and the bookies best betting odds on a draw at full-time are at 9/4.
Espanyol vs Athletic Bilbao Results
Recent meetings between Espanyol and visiting side Athletic Bilbao might have been action-packed, but not rich on goals. Backing under 2.5 goals was a winning bet no less than eight times in the last ten matches. Under 2.5 goals is best priced at odds of 8/13 with the bookies.
Espanyol vs Athletic Bilbao Betting Tips
Martin Braithwaite is showing good form for Espanyol, scoring four goals in their last six matches. Raul Garcia scored once in his previous half dozen outings.
Espanyol claimed a modest three wins from their previous 10 home matches across all tournaments. They split the points with the visiting team in four of the games, whilst losing three. Athletic Bilbao won four of their last 10 games away, drew two and lost four of the games in this run. A modest three times Espanyol scored the opening goal of the game at RCDE Stadium, in their last 10 matches here.Athletic Bilbao opened the scoring in three of their last 10 away games.
Under 2.5 goals came out eight times in the previous ten encounters between Espanyol and Athletic Bilbao as both teams not to score was a winning bet five times. Espanyol managed an average of 0.8 goals, with Athletic Bilbao averaging 1.1 goals in these. Espanyol performed an average of 1.2 goals a game in their previous ten matches in which over 2.5 goals came out seven times. Over 2.5 goals happened in four of the last ten outings for Athletic Bilbao, who managed to score 1.2 times in those matches.
