Espanyol vs Athletic Bilbao

Espanyol and Athletic Bilbao are set to trade tackles at the RCDE Stadium in a mid-table La Liga showdown.

Following a torrid start to the season (D3, L2), Espanyol have found their feet in La Liga, picking up three victories across their last five league matches (D1, L1) as they take the field on a three-game unbeaten streak. Moreover, the ‘Periquitos’ have won each of their last three La Liga home fixtures and could make it four top-flight victories at home in a row for the first time since November 2018. Any potential triumph is likely to be tight, considering that two of their three La Liga home wins this season have yielded a single-goal margin. Though Vicente Moreno’s men have won just one of their last four top-flight match-ups against Athletic Bilbao at home (D3), they are unbeaten against this opposition on home soil in the competition over the past 22 H2Hs (W14, D8).

In the meantime, the visitors have enjoyed an upturn in form heading into this matchday, going from a three-game winless La Liga run (D2, L1) to back-to-back league victories. Like it was the case last season, a low-scoring theme has highlighted Athletic Bilbao’s top-flight matches this term, with all but one of their nine league outings so far featuring under 2.5 total goals. ‘Los Leones’ uneventful away displays have seen them score an average of just 0.5 goals per La Liga trip this season. Worryingly, Marcelino Garcia Toral has lost his last two La Liga fixtures against newly-promoted sides on the road and could become Athletic’s first manager to lose three such contests on the trot since Koldo Aguirre in 1977/1978.