Athletic Bilbao vs Valencia 28/09/19

28 September 2019

In-form Athletic Bilbao welcome struggling Valencia to the Estadio San Mamés hopeful that they can bring a five-game winless La Liga (LL) run in H2Hs to a halt (D2, L3).

Sitting fourth in the LL table, the hosts are one of two teams that are yet to lose in the league this term (W3, D3). Notably, none of Bilbao’s six LL fixtures has produced over 2.5 goals, which should hardly change now, as five of their previous seven H2Hs at this venue featured less than three goals. Also, all three of Los Leones’ LL wins have come on home turf and have seen them beat their rivals to nil, which makes them the only team in Spain’s top-tier that is yet to concede at home this season. In fact, the San Mamés has been a fortress in 2019, with Athletic winning ten of 13 LL home outings since the turn of the year (W10, D3).

On the other hand, the visitors are dealing with massive problems at the beginning of the season having won just one of the opening six LL fixtures (W1, D3, L2). Both of their league defeats have come away from home and have seen them concede at least one goal inside the opening 15 minutes. It will be a daunting prospect for Valencia to put an end to that negative streak, as they failed to beat Athletic at this venue in their last seven LL visits here (D4, L3). Another potential worry for the Bats is that they’ve struggled to keep a clean sheet in six of their previous seven LL away matches, allowing 2+ goals four times in the process.