Read our prediction for Espanyol vs Ath Bilbao below. This preview was written by a sport journalist who is specialised in betting tips and predictions. Use our betting tips for the match between Espanyol vs Ath Bilbao and you can increase your winnings!
Espanyol vs Ath Bilbao Prediction & Betting tips
We close the eleventh round in La Liga on Monday-evening with the meeting between Espanyol and Athletic Bilbao at the RCDE Stadium. The home club is in shape and also hopes to be able to bind the Basques to the Catalan trophy.
Espanyol:
With eighteen points from ten rounds, Espanyol is one of the biggest surprises of this season. Especially in their own RCDE Stadium do the Catalans do excellent, because they are the only clubs in the entire Primera Division still without loss of point for their own audience. Remarkable, because last summer Espanyol was the only club that managed to reduce its salary costs.
We can therefore conclude that the new coach Rubi gets the most out of his selection. The basis of the current success lies in the back, because Espanyol only had to face eight goals in total – the lowest number of the last fourteen years. The defense with Mario Hermoso and David Lopez central, Didac and Javi Lopez on the back positions and the reliable Diego Lopez between the posts stands as a house, while the rest of the team also performs its defensive tasks well. In the point of attack, Borja Iglesias is also doing fine. The striker, last season good for 22 goals on behalf of second division Real Zaragoza, had some start-up problems, but with four goals in his last four league matches he now feels like a fish in the water at Los Pericos. The season is of course still young, but in this form Espanyol is a serious candidate for European football.
Athletic Bilbao:
Athletic Bilbao is disappointing again this season, because with only ten points from just as many matches, the Basques are only just above the danger zone. However, trainer Eduaro Berizzo does not want to know anything about a crisis. ‘A team in crisis does not go through the fire like we did today,’ said the Argentinian after the scoreless draw against Valencia last week.
The 0-0 against Valencia was a typical Athletic Bilbao match anyway. In defensive terms, Los Leones have their affairs in order, but attacks are a lot harder for them. Athletic Bilbao supporters were only allowed to cheer eleven times this season. Iker Muniain is four point club top scorer, followed by Inaki Williams (2 goals) and five players, each with a goal behind their name. The redwarts thus miss a real thing thief, like those who had with Aritz Aduriz in previous seasons. With his 37 years, however, Aduriz is very old-age for football, and he is still dry this season, although he still regularly shows the score not to be lost. Anyway, it seems that, apart from perhaps Muniain, no player will make fifteen to twenty goals this season and that is of course a big problem.
Espanyol vs Ath Bilbao head to head matches
20.05.18 LL Ath Bilbao Espanyol 0 : 1
14.01.18 LL Espanyol Ath Bilbao 1 : 1
04.04.17 LL Ath Bilbao Espanyol 2 : 0
06.11.16 LL Espanyol Ath Bilbao 0 : 0
20.03.16 LL Espanyol Ath Bilbao 2 : 1