Rayo Vallecano vs Athletic Bilbao Preview: Team News & Prediction
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Rayo Vallecano play with one of the more intense pressing styles in Spanish football so will seek to put a potentially fatigued Athletic side under pressure at Vallecas this weekend after the Basque giants played in the UEFA Europa League in midweek.
Kick-off date/time: Sunday 1st December, 2024: UK – 5:30pm / US ET – 12:30pm / US PT – 9:30am
How to watch on TV: UK – Premier Sports / US – ESPN have the exclusive rights to La Liga games in the USA, so Rayo Vallecano vs Athletic Bilbao may be televised on one of their affiliated channels
How to watch online: UK – Premier Sports / US – ESPN+
Rayo Vallecano Preview: Rayo bolters
The appointment of Andoni Iraola’s former assistant coach, Inigo Perez, towards the end of last season, has seen Rayo Vallecano reignite their form and fluency with the Madrid-based club once again capable of setting about any opposition with a fearlessness that made them so watchable and likeable during the Andoni Iraola reign.
Rayo come into this one on the back of a frustrating run of form, though, with three defeats in their last four matches in La Liga. Their most recent outing saw them suffer a 1-0 loss to struggling Sevilla at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan in Andalusia last weekend thanks to a winner from Djibril Sow before Unai Lopez’ red card for Rayo in first-half stoppage-time.
Athletic Bilbao Preview: Athletic’s dream
After winning their first piece of major silverware in over 40 years last year with the Copa del Rey, Ernesto Valverde’s Athletic are dreaming of winning the UEFA Europa League this time around with the final of UEFA’s second-tier club competition set to take place at Athletic’s home ground of San Mames in the Basque Country in May.
They most recently hammered Swedish Allsvenskan side Elfsborg by three goals to nil at the same venue during the league phase in midweek. That victory means the 2023/24 Copa del Rey winners are now unbeaten in eight matches across all competitions and have suffered just three losses in 19 matches throughout the campaign.
Rayo Vallecano Team News: Unai Lopez suspension
As mentioned, Unai Lopez was sent off in Rayo’s 1-0 loss to Sevilla last weekend so the midfielder is unavailable for this one as he is missing through suspension.
Aside from that, though, Rayo have no other injury concerns or suspension issues as they look set to continue with their attacking and aggressive 4-2-2-2 system.
Predicted XI (4-4-2): Alex Batalla; Ratiu, Lejeune, Mumin, Pep Chavarria; Jorge de Frutos, Gerard Gumbau, Oscar Valentin, Alvaro Garcia; Nteka, Sergio Camello
Unavailable: Unai Lopez (Suspended)
Questionable:
Athletic Bilbao Team News: Benat Prados suspension
Athletic have been dealing with injuries throughout this season but Spain’s number one goalkeeper Unai Simon has returned to full fitness after a wrist issue.
They are, though, still dealing with the absence of defensive midfielder Benat Prados, who is sidelined due to suspension for Athletic this weekend.
Predicted XI (4-2-3-1): Julen Agirrezabala; Oscar de Marcos, Dani Vivian, Yeray Alvarez, Yuri Berchiche; Inigo Ruiz de Galarreta, Mikel Vesga; Inaki Williams, Oihan Sancet, Nico Williams; Alvaro Djalo
Unavailable: Benat Prados (Suspended)
Questionable:
Rayo Vallecano vs Athletic Bilbao Prediction
As mentioned, Rayo press hard. Against both Barcelona and Atletico Madrid, they seek to surprise the bigger sides at Vallecas and Athletic will fall into that category so expecting a front foot home performance is fair. Athletic, though, have an abundance of attacking quality and especially in terms of counter-attacking scenarios so both teams scoring would appear a good bet for this one in what should be quite a fun game for the neutral.
Rayo Vallecano vs Athletic Bilbao Tip: Both teams to score
