Mallorca vs Athletic Bilbao

Estadi Mallorca Son Moix sets the stage for an exciting La Liga showdown between Mallorca and Athletic Bilbao.

Mallorca’s narrow 1-0 home triumph against Rayo Vallecano in the previous round marked their fourth win in their last five La Liga outings (L1), forming part of the club’s best ten-game top-flight start since 2009/10. Sat level on points with upcoming opposition Athletic Bilbao, the hosts could climb to fifth in the standings with a win, and their recent H2H home record bodes well. Since a 1-0 loss in 2012, ‘Los Pirates’ have gone unbeaten in four consecutive league meetings with the Basque giants on this ground (W1, D3), with three of those four encounters featuring under 2.5 goals, highlighting the potential for a low-scoring contest. That’s been a running theme at Son Moix this term, considering four of Mallorca’s five home league outings have produced two goals or fewer.

In the meantime, Athletic Bilbao will take this trip in high spirits after squeaking past Slavia Prague 1-0 in their last UEFA Europa League fixture to maintain a near-flawless record in Europe’s second-tier competition this season (W2, D1). However, Ernesto Valverde’s men have blown hot and cold across their four La Liga travels thus far (W2, L2), with three of those four matches seeing over 3+ goals and both teams scoring. Keen to tip the scales in their favor, ‘Los Leones’ can fall back on their remarkable league run of just one defeat from their last 21 games played on a Monday (W12, D8). Ominously, though, the lone exception to this run came against none other than Mallorca in February 2022.