Athletic Bilbao vs Almeria Preview & Prediction | 2023-24 Spanish Primera
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THE FACTS
When is Athletic Bilbao vs Almeria on and what time does it start? Athletic Bilbao vs Almeria will take place on Saturday 7th October, 2023 - 20:00 (UK)
Where can I get tickets for Athletic Bilbao vs Almeria? Visit each club’s official website for the latest ticket information
What TV channel is Athletic Bilbao vs Almeria on in the UK? Athletic Bilbao vs Almeria will be televised live on LaLigaTV, but La Liga matches are also televised occasionally on Viaplay Sports and ITV
Where can I stream Athletic Bilbao vs Almeria in the UK? Athletic Bilbao vs Almeria can be streamed live on Viaplay, while ITV matches can be streamed live on ITVX
THE LOWDOWN
ATHLETIC BILBAO
Under the management of Ernesto Valverde, Athletic Club were beaten by Osasuna in the semi-finals of the Copa del Rey last season before then finishing outside of the European places and below seventh-placed Osasuna in La Liga. The Basque club are restricted in what business they can do due to their self-imposed ‘cantera’ policy but they remain a team capable of challenging for Europe.
They began with a 2-0 defeat at home to Real Madrid, which was a really poor performance in which captain Iker Muniain said Valverde could have taken all 11 men off at half-time. They then enjoyed a six-match unbeaten run of form before their most recent outing last weekend, which was a 3-0 hammering at the hands of their biggest rivals, Real Sociedad.
ALMERIA
Almeria gained promotion back to the top-flight in 2022 and eventually narrowly survived relegation on the final day of the campaign last season. The Andalusians then lost their key attacker, El Bilal Toure, to Atalanta over the summer and it has been a nightmare beginning to the 2023/24 La Liga campaign for them.
After eight matches, they have managed to collect just three points and they remain winless so far. They shared a 3-3 draw with fellow strugglers and regional rivals Granada in their most recent outing, last weekend, despite leading that game by three goals to nil at half-time after a hat-trick from Luis Suarez.
THE TEAM NEWS
ATHLETIC BILBAO
Athletic have a couple of injury issues for this weekend and their key absentee is Inigo Ruiz de Galarreta, who joined from Rayo Vallecano in the summer.
PREDICTED XI (4-2-3-1): Simon; de Marcos, Vivian, Alvarez, Berchiche; Herrera, D.Garcia; I.Williams, Muniain, N.Williams; Guruzeta
UNAVAILABLE: Gomez (Injured), Ruiz de Galarreta (Injured), Nolaskoain (Injured)
QUESTIONABLE:
ALMERIA
Almeria will be without three players for this weekend as Lucas Robertone, Marc Pudill and Martin Svidersky are all out injured for their trip north to Bilbao.
PREDICTED XI (4-3-3): Maximiano; Puigmal, Fernandes, Chumi, Akieme; Melero, Gonzalez, Lopy; Baptistao, Suarez, Ramazani
UNAVAILABLE: Robertone (Injured), Pudill (Injured), Svidersky (Injured)
QUESTIONABLE:
THE PREDICTION
This one shouldn’t necessarily be as one-sided as it is now expected to be. Athletic are coming into this on the back of being hammered by their arch-rivals but they have already proven this season an ability to bounce back immediately and comprehensively. They face an Almeria side that will view blowing a three-goal lead at home to newly-promoted opposition as potentially majorly indicative of how the rest of their season will go. Given that, a comfortable Athletic win is the expected outcome for this one, especially at San Mames.
TIP: ATHLETIC CLUB TO WIN
