After returning from the Wanda Metropolitano, Athletic Bilbao will host RCD Espanyol at the home. It will be the 6th game of the season at the San Mames Stadium. However, Los Leones made a great start to the campaign. In fact, they remained unbeaten in the earlier part of the season. They also defeated a side like FC Barcelona. Actually they are targetting to get back to the European stage. Nevertheless, all these things indicating that they are heading towards their aim. After a month full of football, they will play their last match of October against Espanyol.
On the other side, the UEFA Europa League contenders will end their big road journey with this game. In fact, the Catalonia based side started their journey with the trip to Bulgaria. There they faced Ludogrets before coming back to Spain to face Levante away from the home. Now they are all set to head toward the Bilbao based venue from Ciudad de Valencia to end their streak of consecutive road games.
Match Details:
- Participating Teams: Athletic Bilbao vs RCD Espanyol
- Competition: Spanish La Liga
- Match Week: 11
- Date: 29th/30th/31st October 2019 (TBA)
- Time: TBA
- Day: TBA
- Venue: San Mames Stadium
- Location: Bilbao, Basque Country, Spain
- Capacity: 53,289
- Surface: Grass
Athletic Bilbao Squad:
- Goalkeepers: Jokin Ezkieta, Iago Herrerin, Unai Simon.
- Defenders: Andony Lopez, Unai Nunez, Inigo Martinez, Yeray, Mikel San Jose, Yuri Berchiche, Inigo Lekue, Oscar de Marcos, Mikel Balenziaga.
- Midfielders: Cristian Ganea, Gaizka Larrazabal, Mikel Vesga, Inigo Cordoba, Benat, Dani Garcia, Ander Capa, Raul Garcia, Unai Lopez.
- Forwards: Aritz Aduriz, Ibai Gomez, Iker Muinain, Inaki Williams, Kenan Kodro, Gorka Guruzeta, Asier Villalibre, Peru Nolaskoain.
Espanyol Squad:
- Goalkeepers: Andres, Adrian, Diego Lopez.
- Defenders: Pipa, Naldo, A Pedrosa, Lluiz Lopez, D Vila, Bernardo Espinosa, A Giner, David Lopez, Javi Lopez.
- Midfielders: Matias Vargas, Victor Sanchez, A Iturrapse, S Darder, Oscar Melendo, Alex Lopez, Marc Roca, Esteban Granero, Wu Lei, Nicolas Melamed.
- Forwards: Victor Campuzano, Borja Iglesias, Facundo Ferreyra, Javier Puado, Pablo Piatti.
Athletic Bilbao Last 5 Matches (Up to the Writing Date) :
- 2-0 Win vs Real Sociedad
- 1-1 Draw vs Getafe
- 1-0 Win vs Barcelona
- 0-2 Defeat vs Sevilla
- 3-1 Win vs Celta de Vigo
Espanyol Last 5 Matches (Up to Writing Date):
- 0-3 Defeat vs Granada
- 0-0 Draw vs Deportivo Alaves
- 0-2 Defeat vs Sevilla
- 2-0 Win vs Real Sociedad
- 2-0 Win vs Leganes
Predicted Result: Athletic Bilbao 3 – 0 Espanyol
Match Preview: Firstly, the two sides’ starting has shown complete dissimilarity. Bilbao made a superb start to the season meanwhile the Catalan side simply has been shaky. In addition to this, Bilbao looks stronger on the pen and paper as well. Thus it may not be going to be a good trip fro the Periquitos.
But the White and Blues lead the race of the current head to heads with 2-1 margin. Moreover, the Lions have failed to beat them since 2017. Moreover, in the penultimate meeting at the San Mames, Bilbao had to taste defeat against them. So these stats will surely boost the morale of the visiting side.
Nevertheless, I’m expecting a dominating football display as well as a comprehensive victory for the hosts.