Athletic Bilbao will be bidding to return to winning ways in Spain's top flight when they welcome Valencia to San Mames on Sunday night.
The Basque outfit will enter the contest off the back of a 1-0 defeat to the reigning champions Barcelona, while Valencia beat Cadiz 2-0 last time out to end a four-game winless run in the league.
Match preview
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Athletic managed to frustrate Barcelona for long spells of their contest last weekend, but teenage debutant Marc Guiu scored an 80th-minute winner for Xavi's side, who just managed to edge past their stern opponents.
The loss was Athletic's third in the league this season, but it has still been a positive start to the campaign for the Basque outfit, who have a record of five wins, two draws and three defeats from 10 matches, with a total of 17 points leaving them in sixth position in the table.
The Lions will be pleased to be back on home soil this weekend, as they have won three and drawn one of their last four matches at San Mames, including a 3-0 success over Almeria last time out in front of their own fans.
Ernesto Valverde's side finished eighth in La Liga last season, but they were fourth as recently as 2013-14 and also claimed fifth in 2015-16, so a push for the European positions is not beyond them.
Athletic are also unbeaten against Valencia since September 2019, and they won both league games between the two sides last season, including a 1-0 success at San Mames in August 2022.
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Valencia were 16th in La Liga last season, which represented their worst campaign in the top flight since being relegated to the Segunda Division back in 1986.
Los Che are far from the outfit that were regulars in the top four not too long ago, and their main focus this season, with a youthful squad, will be to push into the top half.
Ruben Baraja's side will enter this match off the back of a morale-boosting 2-0 success over Cadiz on Monday, with Jose Gaya and Hugo Duro on the scoresheet at Mestalla.
The victory moved Valencia into eighth position in the table on 14 points, boasting a record of four wins, two draws and four defeats thus season, and they are only four points behind fifth-placed Real Sociedad, so it has been a positive start to the campaign.
Los Che, as mentioned, have not enjoyed their recent meetings with Athletic, although four of their last six top-flight fixtures with the Lions have finished all square.
Team News
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Athletic have four definite absentees for this match, with Julen Agirrezabala, Ander Herrera, Yeray Alvarez and Mikel Vesga on the sidelines, while Yuri Berchiche is a major doubt due to a muscular issue.
Valverde would not have seen much wrong with his side's performance against Barcelona last time out, so the team that takes to the field for this contest is expected to be very similar to the one that lined up against the champions last weekend.
Inigo Lekue will start if Berchiche does not shake off his issue, while Nico Williams and Inaki Williams are again set to be joined in the final third of the field by Gorka Guruzeta, who has four league goals to his name this term.
As for Valencia, Andre Almeida, Mouctar Diakhaby and Jesus Vazquez will again be missing, while Sergi Canos and Alberto Mari remain major doubts for Los Che.
Head coach Baraja could name an unchanged side for this match, with Duro again playing through the middle, supported by Fran Perez and Selim Amallah in the wide positions.
Hugo Guillamon and Roman Yaremchuk are both pushing for starting roles, but it seems likely that both players will be on the bench once again, with the in-demand Javi Guerra retaining his spot in central midfield.
Athletic Bilbao possible starting lineup:
Simon; De Marcos, Vivian, Paredes, Lekue; D Garcia, Ruiz de Galarreta; I Williams, Sancet, N Williams; Guruzeta
Valencia possible starting lineup:
Mamardashvili; Correia, Mosquera, Paulista, Gaya; Pepelu, Guerra; Perez, D Lopez, Amallah; Duro
We say: Athletic Bilbao 2-1 Valencia
Valencia are certainly good enough to claim a positive result on Sunday, and it would not be a surprise to see a draw here. Athletic have been strong at home this season, though, and we are expecting Valverde's side to navigate their way to what would be an important three points this weekend.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Matt Law
