Athletic Bilbao vs Valencia

Athletic Bilbao and Valencia are set to trade tackles in a handsomely-looking La Liga encounter at the Estadio San Mames.

Despite slipping to a 1-0 defeat at Barcelona last weekend, Athletic Bilbao’s decent La Liga start (W5, D2, L3) keeps them on the periphery of the top four, with five points separating them from fourth-placed Atletico Madrid at the beginning of this round. That’s largely thanks to Bilbao’s impressive home form, as they’ve won ten out of 12 available points since going down 2-0 to Real Madrid in their first home game of the 2023/24 season (W3, D1). Unlike some recent years,’Los Leones’ have been unstoppable in front of goal, netting two or more in their last four league outings at San Mames at an average of three per game. Against this backdrop, Ernesto Valverde’smen have massively struggled to penetrate Valencia’s backline since a 2-1 win in September 2016, scoring under 1.5 goals in six straight top-flight H2Hs at home since! In the meantime, Valencia’s rough patch, featuring four consecutive league matches without a win (D2, L2), is now behind them as Ruben Baraja’s side netted two unanswered first-half goals to beat Cadiz 2-0 at home earlier this week. After barely saving their skin last season, ‘Los Che’ could challenge for the European spots this season as a perfectly-balanced ten-game La Liga start(W4, D2, L4) puts them only three points adrift of the Europa Conference League playoff spot atthe beginning of this round. However, the visitors haven’t fared well on their travels, alternating between drawing (2) and losing (2) in their last four matches since a 2-1 triumph at Sevilla on matchday one. It’s also worth noting they’ve conceded 2+ goals in three of those four winless games.