Three games will be played in the Spanish La Liga on Saturday, with the action taking followers from 15.15 through to 22:00 GMT. That’s a hectic schedule, and you can keep pace with the matches on television, radio, and online through live streaming apps. But which teams will boost their league position by winning and picking up three points? This article provides an in-depth preview and predictions on the highlight of Saturday’s matches as Valencia hosts Athletic Bilbao. This game kicks off at 20:00 and will be broadcast to a global audience, with the capacity crowd in attendance boosted by the millions watching worldwide. But which team will finish on top?
When La Liga experts were making their predictions on the teams to follow back in pre-season, neither Valencia nor Athletic Bilbao was expected to challenge for the La Liga crown. Real Madrid is the current champion and must fend off attention from the likes of Barcelona, Real Sociedad, and Atletico Madrid to defend the prize. Valencia is much closer to the relegation zone than they are to the European places, meaning the pressure is on to start winning matches and climbing the ladder. Opponents Athletic Bilbao are much better off at present, starting the week in seventh with hopes of challenging for a top-six finish.
Saturday will be the third time these sides have met this season after one clash in La Liga and the other coming in the Copa del Rey. Bilbao used home advantage to take all three points in the league match back in the summer before doing the double at this venue in the cup. The second game was just a fortnight ago, with Bilbao winning 3-1 to progress to the next round. Will Athletic Bilbao make it three wins on the spin, or can Valencia score an overdue win at home? Keep reading for our preview, predictions, and betting odds.
Hosts lose three on the bounce
Valencia enjoy the home advantage for this La Liga fixture, but they enter on the back of a woeful run of form that has them struggling at the wrong end of the table. The locals have lost each of their last three outings at this level and taken just one of the 15 points available to them in five. That drastic slump goes some way to explaining the dangerous situation Valencia finds itself in, but to discover how they break free, a little more digging is required. When stripping back the form and investigating the numbers, we see why Valencia continue to struggle and why they could have a tough game on Saturday.
The home team’s league form shows they have five wins, five draws and ten defeats with 25 goals scored and 24 conceded. Their tally of 20 points places Valencia in 17th, one position and one point above the bottom three who will lose their La Liga membership at the end of the campaign, demoted to the second tier of Spanish football. At the time of writing, the three teams most likely to be relegated are Cadiz, Getafe and Elche. The later have just nine points on the board and show no signs of recovering any time soon. They have scored 25 goals – more than Real Betis in sixth – and conceded 24 – fewer than Girona in eleventh.
We last saw Valencia in action a week ago when losing 1-0 to Girona on the road. That was a match they were capable of taking something from and Valencia created enough chances to score, but confidence is painfully low in the camp. This is a side in desperate need of some luck, but the tough fixtures continue to come and there’s no hiding place at this level. We’ll need to see a season-best performance from Valencia if they are to make a long overdue return to winning ways.
Bilbao won last time
Athletic Bilbao is another team that has been under-performing and short-changing their fans of late. They started the season as a team thought to be capable of making it into the Europa League or Conference League, but there’s much work still to be done on that front. Bilbao need a winning run to get their season back on track as this game represents a crossroads in their campaign. Win and they can concentrate on breaking into the prize places. Lose and they could be facing a season stuck in midtable with little to get excited about.
Bilbao have won just one of their last five league games, losing three and drawing the spare. They did claim that victory last time out, which could help provide a timely confidence boost to the squad. Athletic now travels to an opponent that’s struggling but remains dangerous and if Bilbao look at Valencia’s recent results and think they need only turn up to get the win, they will be surprised. The visitors are experienced enough and honest enough about their qualities that they will give this task their full attention. Anything less could see them fall back into bad habits.
Last weekend’s win moved Bilbao to seventh in the table with 29 points on the board. They can now afford to look upwards towards the best teams with just two points separating them from Villarreal in fifth place. Atletico Madrid are the gatekeepers to the top-four and Champions League football next season and the recent champions are six points away. Covering the gap with two wins isn’t an impossible task, but Bilbao knows they must take all three points from this trip to give themselves the best chance of putting pressure on those above. There’s still all to play for in Spain this season with battles raging at both ends of the La Liga table.
Valencia v Athletic Bilbao prediction
Two teams who are desperately out of form and two that know this is a game they can’t afford to lose. A draw wouldn’t do either too many favours here. If Bilbao are as good as they were during last weekend’s win, they’ll have a great chance of adding another three points.
La Liga odds
The pre-match betting odds available at 22bet has Valencia at 3.09 with Athletic Bilbao 2.36 and the draw 3.26.
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