📊 Form Guide
Athletic Bilbao WLWDLW
Athletic Bilbao will be hoping for a repeat of their last result, following a 0-1 Copa del Rey success against Ourense.
In that match, Athletic Bilbao managed 53% possession and 29 shots at goal with 7 of them on target. The scorer for Athletic Bilbao was Mikel Jauregizar (106'). For their opponents, Ourense CF had 6 attempts on goal with 1 of them on target. The match was eventually decided in extra time and won by Athletic Bilbao.
A common aspect of more recent Athletic Bilbao games is the number of nil scores.
From their previous sextet of matches before this one, in as many as 6 of them a bet on "Both Teams to Score" would have lost.
Ahead of this meeting, Athletic Bilbao have not been beaten in the league by Espanyol in their previous 3 matches.
Espanyol LWWLWW
Espanyol go into this match following a 0-1 La Liga win with the downing of Getafe in their last game.
In that game, Espanyol managed 44% possession and 6 attempts at goal with 4 of them on target. The only player on the scoresheet for Espanyol was Leandro Cabrera (53'). Getafe had 11 shots at goal with 1 on target.
Over the course of 5 of the previous 6 games featuring Espanyol, a relatively low number of goals have been struck between them and opposing sides. The overall average goals scored per game during that spell comes out as a paltry 1.5, with the number of goals averaged by Periquitos equalling 0.83. That sort of trend might not follow through here, though.
Coming into this fixture, Espanyol are undefeated in their previous 2 league matches away from home.
↔️ Head to head
A look at their past head to head clashes going back to 07/02/2022 tells us that Athletic Bilbao have won 4 of these games and Espanyol 1, with the number of drawn games standing at 1.
An aggregate of 15 goals were scored between the two sides during those clashes, with 10 of them for Los Leones and 5 being from Periquitos. This gives an average number of goals per game equal to 2.5.
The previous league match featuring these sides was La Liga match day 24 on 16/02/2025 when it ended Espanyol 1-1 Athletic Bilbao.
In that game, Espanyol had 39% possession and 12 attempts on goal with 4 of them on target. Their only player on the scoresheet was Roberto Fernández (62').
Athletic Bilbao had 14 attempts on goal with 4 of them on target. Sancet (77') scored.
The referee was Guillermo Cuadra Fernández.
📋 Team News: Athletic Bilbao
Maroan Sannadi (Knee injury), Yuri Berchiche (Muscle injury), Aymeric Laporte (Hamstring injury), Unai Egiluz (Cruciate ligament tear) and Beñat Prados (Cruciate ligament tear) are unavailable for Athletic Bilbao gaffer Ernesto Valverde.
It’s our opinion that Los Leones should kick off with a 4-2-3-1 system featuring Unai Simon, Jesus Areso, Inigo Lekue, Aitor Paredes, Adama Boiro, I. Ruiz de, Mikel Jauregizar, Inaki Williams, Oihan Sancet, Nico Williams and Alex Berenguer.
ℹ️ Team News: Espanyol
Espanyol manager Manolo González has a number of players out of action. Javi Puado (Knee injury) and Ramón Terrats (Inflammation of the biceps tendon in the thigh) will miss out on this game.
It’s our belief that Periquitos could decide to utilise a 4-2-3-1 lineup, settling for Marko Dmitrovic, Omar El Hilali, Fernando Calero, Leandro Cabrera, Carlos Romero, U. Gonzalez de, Pol Lozano, Tyrhys Dolan, Edu Exposito, Pere Milla and Roberto Fernandez.
💭 Prediction
We’re of the view that Espanyol are dangerous enough to breach the defence of this Athletic Bilbao team, however it might not prevent them from conceding a couple at the other end.
We can see a narrow 2-1 win for Athletic Bilbao at the end of this one. We are expecting it to be pretty even.
Victor Martins, 12:01 22/12/2025