In the current season, Athletic Bilbao and Valencia haven’t won yet, with the Valencia side sitting at the bottom of the table ahead of their trip to Bilbao. The Basque side has been rightfully given the status of favourites by bookmakers, considering they have a well-honed strategy, while their opponents are excessively inconsistent.
Against Getafe (1:1) and Barcelona (1:2), Athletic Bilbao generated a total of 1.39 xG — not the most impressive figure, but their opponents were not willing to engage in open football. It's clear that the combination of the Williams brothers and Oihan Sancet in the attacking midfielder role will yield results, particularly against mid-table and lower-tier teams. Notably, against Getafe at home, the team controlled possession 69% of the time, and a similar dominance can be expected against a team of comparable level.
Valencia's attacking performance is somewhat better than Athletic Club's (2.71 xG), but in terms of expected goals conceded, they are third from the bottom with 4.79 xG. The team simply lacks the quality to compete even with Celta: in that game, after an early goal by Diego López, they conceded three goals in a row within 35 minutes. Without the injured Sergi Canós, Samu Castillejo, José Gayà, and Fran Pérez, they will continue to struggle to secure points.
In the last two seasons, Athletic have won three out of five head-to-head encounters against Valencia. In front of their home crowd in Bilbao, the Spanish side will clinch their first victory of the current campaign.
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Ernesto Valverde
|
coach | ||
| Player | Matches | Goals | |
|
In squad
|
|||
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Alejandro Padilla Pérez
|
gk. | 2 | -3 |
|
Julen Agirrezabala Astúlez
|
gk. | 0 | 0 |
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Unai Simón
|
gk. | 0 | 0 |
|
Dani Vivian
|
df. | 2 | 0 |
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Iñigo Lekue
|
df. | 2 | 0 |
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Yeray Álvarez
|
df. | 2 | 0 |
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Yuri Berchiche
|
df. | 2 | 0 |
|
Aitor Paredes Casamichana
|
df. | 1 | 0 |
|
Andoni Gorosabel
|
df. | 1 | 0 |
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Adama Boiro Boiro
|
df. | 0 | 0 |
|
Oscar De Marcos
|
df. | 0 | 0 |
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Unai Núñez
|
df. | 0 | 0 |
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Ander Herrera
|
mf. | 2 | 0 |
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Beñat Prados Díaz
|
mf. | 2 | 0 |
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Mikel Vesga
|
mf. | 2 | 0 |
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Oihan Sancet
|
mf. | 2 | 2 |
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Unai Gómez Etxebarria
|
mf. | 2 | 0 |
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Mikel Jauregizar Alboniga
|
mf. | 1 | 0 |
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Iñigo Ruiz de Galarreta
|
mf. | 0 | 0 |
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Gorka Guruzeta
|
fw. | 2 | 0 |
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Iñaki Williams
|
fw. | 2 | 0 |
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Nicholas Williams Arthuer
|
fw. | 2 | 0 |
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Álex Berenguer
|
fw. | 2 | 0 |
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Adu Ares
|
fw. | 1 | 0 |
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Javier Martón Ansó
|
fw. | 0 | 0 |
|
Nicolás Serrano Galdeano
|
fw. | 0 | 0 |
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Álvaro Djaló Dias Fernandes
|
fw. | 0 | 0 |
|
Rubén Baraja
|
coach | ||
| Player | Matches | Goals | |
|
In squad
|
|||
|
Giorgi Mamardashvili
|
gk. | 2 | -5 |
|
Jaume Doménech
|
gk. | 0 | 0 |
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Stole Dimitrievski
|
gk. | 0 | 0 |
|
Cristhian Mosquera
|
df. | 2 | 0 |
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Dimitri Foulquier
|
df. | 2 | 0 |
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Jesús Vázquez
|
df. | 2 | 0 |
|
Thierry Correia
|
df. | 2 | 0 |
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Yarek Gasiorowski
|
df. | 2 | 0 |
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Cenk Özkaçar
|
df. | 0 | 0 |
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César Tárrega
|
df. | 0 | 0 |
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José Luis Gayà
|
df. | 0 | 0 |
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Mouctar Diakhaby
|
df. | 0 | 0 |
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André Almeida
|
mf. | 2 | 0 |
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Javier Guerra
|
mf. | 2 | 0 |
|
Pepelu
|
mf. | 2 | 0 |
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Hugo Guillamón
|
mf. | 1 | 0 |
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Martín Tejón
|
mf. | 1 | 0 |
|
Hugo González
|
mf. | 0 | 0 |
|
Dani Gómez
|
fw. | 2 | 0 |
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Diego López Noguerol
|
fw. | 2 | 1 |
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Hugo Duro Perales
|
fw. | 2 | 1 |
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Rafa Mir
|
fw. | 2 | 0 |
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Alberto Mari
|
fw. | 1 | 0 |
|
David Otorbi
|
fw. | 1 | 0 |
|
Fran Pérez
|
fw. | 0 | 0 |
|
Luis Rioja
|
fw. | 0 | 0 |
|
Samu Castillejo
|
fw. | 0 | 0 |
|
Sergi Canós
|
fw. | 0 | 0 |
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La Liga
