Athletic Bilbao vs Valencia Betting Preview & Prediction | 2023-24 Spanish Primera
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THE FACTS
When is Athletic Bilbao vs Valencia on and what time does it start? Athletic Bilbao vs Valencia will take place on Sunday 29th October, 2023 – 17:30 (UK)
Where can I get tickets for Athletic Bilbao vs Valencia? Visit each club’s official website for the latest ticket information
What TV channel is Athletic Bilbao vs Valencia on in the UK? Athletic Bilbao vs Valencia will be televised live on LaLigaTV, but La Liga matches are also televised occasionally on Viaplay Sports and ITV
Where can I stream Athletic Bilbao vs Valencia in the UK? Athletic Bilbao vs Valencia can be streamed live on Viaplay, while ITV matches can be streamed live on ITVX
THE LOWDOWN
ATHLETIC BILBAO
The fact that Athletic Club have never been relegated from La Liga is astonishing, considering their recruitment ‘cantera’ policy whereby they only play Basque players, albeit with a bit of leniency. Under the management of former Barcelona manager, Ernesto Valverde, they are expected to challenge, once again, for a return to Europe.
They begin this weekend’s round of fixtures well in contention for European qualification. Their most recent outing was a 1-0 loss to Barcelona, last weekend, and they have suffered two defeats in their last three matches, including a hammering at the hands of their big regional rivals, Real Sociedad prior to the October international break.
VALENCIA
Supporter protest and off-field issues have led to Valencia being engulfed in consistent underperformance and they only narrowly avoided relegation on the final day of the season last year after a late surge under the management of Ruben Baraja. The visitors, though, are expected to face another struggle this season.
They come into this on the back of a comfortable and impressive 2-0 win in their most recent outing against Cadiz, last weekend, after the break. They have won two matches since mid-August when they began the season with back-to-back victories and their performances have been really poor in the last couple of months.
THE TEAM NEWS
ATHLETIC BILBAO
The home team have some fairly major injury concerns for this weekend with both Yeray Alvarez and Ander Herrera definitely out, whilst Yuri Berchiche is a doubt.
PREDICTED XI (4-2-3-1): Simon; de Marcos, Vivian, Paredes, Berchiche; Garcia, Ruiz de Galarreta; I.Williams, Sancet, N.Williams; Guruzeta
UNAVAILABLE: Herrera (Injured), Yeray (Injured)
QUESTIONABLE: Berchiche (Injured)
VALENCIA
There are a few injury concerns for this weekend’s game against Athletic Club with the likes of Mouctar Diakhaby and Andre Almeida both unavailable in the Basque Country.
PREDICTED XI (4-2-3-1): Mamardashvili; Correia, Mosquera, Gabriel, Gaya; Pepelu, Guerra; Perez, Lopez, Amallah; Duro
UNAVAILABLE: Almeida (Injured), Diakhaby (Injured), Vazquez (Injured)
QUESTIONABLE: Mari (Injured)
THE PREDICTION
These two sides are sitting in the top-half of La Liga but neither of them are overly convincing and the fact they are both up there is a bit of a sign of just how much the league may have fallen off in terms of quality. They have, though, remained quite entertaining to watch with both sides having scored and conceded a goal or more per game so far this season. Given that, both teams scoring looks the way to go for this one.
BETTING TIP: BOTH TEAMS TO SCORE
