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Espanyol vs Ath Bilbao Prediction & Betting tips
Espanyol plays a real final on Saturday afternoon, when the Catalans take on Athletic Bilbao in their own RCDE Stadium. The team is, after all, the last in LaLiga, and must therefore win to keep its chances of retention alive. However, visitors desperately need the points in the battle for European football.
Espanyol:
Espanyol is in a bad season and with only fourteen points from twenty rounds of games, he is the red lantern bearer in La Liga. However, the Catalans still firmly believe in physical preservation. With the acquisition of attacker Raul de Tomas (Sporting CP) for about twenty million euros, this transfer period broke the club record, and the appointment of the new coach Abelardo also had an immediate effect. After the handsome 2-2 draw of two weeks ago against fellow townman FC Barcelona, the blues and whites ended a period of more than two months without a win by winning over 1-2000 against Villarreal in the eyes of more than 3,000 fans who were taken along.
Thanks to this revival, Espanyol suddenly has the safe seventeenth place in their sights again, although a few days ago Los Pericos were eliminated with a 2-0 defeat against Real Sociedad in the Copa del Rey. However, that was no surprise, as Abelardo saved almost his entire starting line-up for the squatter of next week’s end against Athletic Bilbao. Right back Javi Lopez is sitting out a suspension.
Athletic Bilbao:
In terms of number of defeats (4), Athletic Bilbao only has to tolerate Real Madrid, FC Barcelona and Atletico Madrid, but due to the many draws, the Basques are in danger of seizing themselves alongside European football. The 1-1 draw last weekend was already the fourth draw (and the fifth point loss) in a row in LaLiga. Also in the mid-week match in the Copa del Rey, Los Leones needed an extension and penalties themselves to struggle past second division Elche. “We always go full for the profit,” said captain Iker Muniain. “However, it is clear that there are still plenty of points for improvement.”
The main problem is the lack of scoring ability, as with only 21 goals, Athletic Bilbao is one of the least scoring teams in LaLiga. Inaki Williams initially started as a deep striker in a 4-2-3-1 formation, but Gaizka Garitano prefers to put him on the wings these days. Aritz Aduriz, however, is in the rag basket, which means that the team no longer has a real center forward. Raul Garcia does his best at that position, but he is actually more of a preparer than a finishing touch. The offensive problems of the red and white people do not seem to be solved for the time being.
Espanyol vs Ath Bilbao head to head matches
30.10.19 LL Ath Bilbao Espanyol 3 : 0
08.03.19 LL Ath Bilbao Espanyol 1 : 1
05.11.18 LL Espanyol Ath Bilbao 1 : 0
20.05.18 LL Ath Bilbao Espanyol 0 : 1
14.01.18 LL Espanyol Ath Bilbao 1 : 1