Football Results

Team names suggest that this is a derby of the round, however, the table shows something else and the team that failed is Athletic, while Valencia is very good this season. They have even 18 points more than Valencia and they are in very good fourth place, which leads to the Champions League. They are not playing in Europe this season, but Athletic is playing in Europa League and they have reached the round of sixteen. And they celebrated in the last round in the championship after a long time, while Valencia is in a series of three wins. In the first part of the championship, Valencia defeated Athletic with 3-2.

Athletic Bilbao

Athletic is having a lot of problems this season, but they are still present in Europa League where they were almost eliminated. Namely, they have Spartak defeated in Moscow with 3-1, and they seemed to have secured the round of sixteen, but then they lost with 2-1 at home and were close to elimination. In the championship they had a series of six games without a win, and they have not scored any goals in the last three in that series, but last weekend they finally celebrated over the last Malaga.

They were losing with 1-0, and after the turnover, goalkeeper Arrizabalaga defended the penalty, meaning they had a lot of luck. Coach Ziguan has been forced to rotate the starting lineup due to the large number of matches, and there are also some problems with injuries because of which they cannot count on Muniain, Rico and Balenziage. And we are now expecting new changes compared to the team that played against Malaga.

Probable lineups Athletic Bilbao: Arrizabalaga – de Marcos, Yeray, I.Martinez, Saborit – Iturraspe, Benat – Susaeta, Raul Garcia, Williams – Aduriz

Valencia

Valencia was also in a crisis this season, and they are only at the top of the table because of that great series at the start of the championship when they were undefeated in the first 13 rounds. After that they were expectedly dropped and had a series of three defeats, adding another two in Barcelona semi-finals. Valencia is now in a series of three wins and they have experienced the last defeat against Athletic in Madrid. Interestingly, they were usually receiving goals in matches that ended with a victory, so the last time they have managed to keep their net intact was in mid-November when they defeated Espanyol with 2-0.

The aforementioned series of triumphs began with the triumph over their city rivals Levante. It was not easy for them in that duel, but in the end it was 3-1, while they had a lot of problems in Malaga, where they lost and then in the finish made a turnover with 2-1. It was not easy for them on Sunday against Real Sociedad when they also celebrated with 2-1, and the hero was Santi Mina with two goals. We are now expecting Ruben Vezo, Kondogbia and Zaza to return in the team.

Probable lineups Valencia: Neto – Montoya, Murillo, G.Paulista, Gaya – Soler, Kondogbia, Parejo, Guedes – Santi Mina, Zaza

Verdict:

Athletic is struggling this season, but they are hardly losing games on their field and we expect that they will play well in this match. Valencia does not look good in defence and they regularly receive goals, which is why we do not believe that they can win in Bilbao.

Pick:  Asian Handicap +0.25 Athletic Bilbao 1.53 - 53/100 @1XBet