Eibar vs Athletic Club 26/09/20

26 September 2020

Either Eibar or Athletic Club can claim their first La Liga win in 2020/21 when they meet at the Estadio Municipal de Ipurua this week.

It’s been an underwhelming start to the season for Eibar so far (D1, L1), with each of their three La Liga goals scored/conceded coming in the second half of a 2-1 away loss to Villarreal last time out. Another tight contest is well on the cards, as all four of their previous top-flight H2Hs held at this venue have ended separating the sides by under 1.5 goals (D2, L2). ‘Los Armeros’ may want to avoid conceding the opener here, as they returned just one win from ten La Liga home matches in which they allowed the opening goal back in 2019/20 (W1, D2, L7). But, a genuine lack of firepower up front has seen José Luis Mendilibar’s men draw a blank in three of their previous four home league fixtures, last season included.

Meanwhile, a 2-0 away loss to Granada on the opening matchday of the season now means the visitors have lost three consecutive La Liga games without scoring, last season included. Athletic struggled for goals away from home in 2019/20, failing to find the net in seven away league games and netting a modest average of 1.05 goals per La Liga trip. Furthermore, Gaizka Garitano’s men established a habit of falling behind without recovering, losing all six of their away league fixtures in which they shipped the opener back last season. Bilbao can, however, hope to avoid defeat here, considering they’ve lost just once in their previous seven competitive trips to Eibar (W4, D2, L1).