Fresh from a surprise victory over title-chasing Atletico Madrid, Athletic Bilbao prepare for a midweek clash with Real Valladolid in La Liga at the San Mames Stadium.
While the hosts marched to all three points in their most recent fixture, Valladolid's relegation troubles deepened after a 1-1 draw with Cadiz.
Match preview
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The heartbreak of losing two Copa del Rey finals in the space of two weeks has been consigned to history for Athletic, who ended an eight-game winless run across all competitions with a 2-1 success over Atletico on Sunday night.
It was a tale of three headers as Alex Berenguer drew first blood in the eighth minute before Stefan Savic levelled for Atletico 13 minutes from time, but Marcelino's men won the day as Inigo Martinez headed in the winner on the 86-minute mark to claim Athletic's first victory of the month.
Athletic had played out five consecutive stalemates in La Liga before marching to victory over Atletico, and that spate of one-pointers has seriously hampered their aspirations of a top-seven finish as they occupy 10th spot in the table - eight points adrift of Villarreal in the final European spot with a game in hand.
Marcelino's men have the chance to leapfrog Granada and Celta Vigo into eighth with a second consecutive win this week, but they have failed to record any back-to-back wins in La Liga this season, so Wednesday would certainly be a good time to end that hoodoo.
The hosts do go into the game on a seven-game unbeaten run at the San Mames Stadium - during which time they have only failed to score once - so it would be a surprise not to see Marcelino's side pile more misery on relegation-threatened Valladolid.
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The visitors were finally pushed below the dreaded dotted line at the weekend, as their winless streak stretched to six matches with a 1-1 stalemate against Cadiz at the Estadio Nuevo Jose Zorrilla.
Oscar Plano's early strike - and his first goal of the month - ensured that Valladolid would take a 1-0 lead into the break, but all of their hard work was undone when Juan Cala scored on the 64-minute mark to rescue a point for Cadiz.
With only a solitary win to boast from their last 15 in La Liga, Valladolid are in serious trouble as they occupy 18th spot in the table following Elche's win over Levante, but they remain just a point adrift of safety in a relegation dogfight where none of the bottom nine teams is safe.
Sergio's underperforming side have also managed just two wins on the road in the entire league campaign, but they have managed to take a point from four of their last five away matches - which often tend to be low-scoring affairs - and they could immediately knock Elche back down to 18th should they win their game in hand this week.
Valladolid ought to take inspiration from their 2-1 win over Athletic earlier in the campaign, but they have not prevailed on their opponents' turf since the 2003-04 La Liga season, and the last two games at the San Mames Stadium have ended 1-1.
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Team News
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Athletic lost right-back Ander Capa to a knee issue halfway through their game with Atletico, so Oscar de Marcos should earn a start against Valladolid, although Inigo Lekue is another option for Marcelino.
The hosts continue to cope without a trio of regulars in Yuri Berchiche, Iker Muniain and Yeray Alvarez, so it would be a surprise to see Marcelino make many chances after an impressive showing against Atletico.
However, Oihan Sancet and Asier Villalibre failed to produce the goods up top, so Inaki Williams and Raul Garcia could both be rotated into the team, while the suspended Unai Vencedor should see his spot filled by Unai Lopez.
Meanwhile, Valladolid will be without Athletic loanee Kenan Kodro as he cannot face his parent club, but Shon Weissman and Sergi Guardiola were expected to start up front anyway.
Javi Sanchez and Pablo Hervias are reported to have trained normally on Monday and therefore should be available for the trip to Athletic, but Raul Carnero remains absent with a knee injury.
Jordi Masip lost his place in goal to Roberto for the draw with Cadiz and that could be the case again here, while Marcos Andre's spot in attack is in jeopardy as Guardiola pushes for a recall.
Athletic Bilbao possible starting lineup:
Simon; De Marcos, Martinez, Nunez, Balenziaga; Morcillo, Lopez, D. Garcia, Berenguer; Williams, R. Garcia
Real Valladolid possible starting lineup:
Roberto; Perez, Fernandez, Sanchez, Olaza; Orellana, Alcaraz, Mesa, Plano; Guardiola, Weissman
We say: Athletic Bilbao 2-0 Real Valladolid
Athletic and Valladolid both seem to have a penchant for draws, but a one-pointer here would not do much good for either side's ambitions of a European berth or survival.
The hosts should have the wind in their sails after sinking Atletico, and they have not given much away on home soil recently, so we are backing Marcelino's men to finally register consecutive victories in the league with a comfortable success.
Top tip
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Athletic Bilbao win with a probability of 41.69%. A win for Real Valladolid had a probability of 29.44% and a draw had a probability of 28.9%.
The most likely scoreline for an Athletic Bilbao win was 1-0 with a probability of 13.55%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (8.28%) and 2-1 (8.09%). The likeliest Real Valladolid win was 0-1 (10.84%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (13.24%). The actual scoreline of 2-2 was predicted with a 4% likelihood.
