Elche vs Athletic Bilbao Match Analysis and Prediction

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Elche play host to Athletic Bilbao at Estadio Manuel Martinez Valero on Sunday still looking for their first La Liga victory of the 2022-23 campaign.

On the other hand, their visitors make the trip looking to strengthen their hold of a top-six spot in the league standings.

Off the back of last season’s 13th-placed finish, expectations have been high at Estadio Manuel Martinez Valero in their third year back in the Spanish top flight.

However, Elche have only managed to pick up one point from a possible 12, that draw coming at home to Almeria on August 22.

Their only goal of the campaign also came in that game, despite the visitors playing with 10 men for 58 minutes, and defeats have been recorded against Real Betis, Real Sociedad and Villarreal.

With a trip to Camp Nou to come next weekend, Los Franjiverdes are under pressure to get back on track on Sunday, and they will hope that Athletic’s disappointment from last weekend carries over into this contest.

Having been provided with a favourable fixture list on his return to San Mames, Ernesto Valverde would have been aware that Athletic Bilbao had an opportunity to establish themselves towards the top of the table.

Everything went well during the opening three fixtures, picking up seven points and failing to concede a goal, and it set Athletic up to collect further points at home to Espanyol.

However, despite facing opposition who had been in search of their first win of the season, Los Leones suffered a 1-0 defeat to Espanyol through a late goal from Martin Braithwaite.

Momentum has clearly been lost following that defeat, but Valverde will be pushing his squad to remain capable of moving into the top four given their next three fixtures against Elche, Rayo Vallecano and Almeria.

Elche vs Athletic Bilbao head to head

These two teams have previously met on nine occasions across two competitions, where Elche have claimed two victories while Athletic have won four, and they have drawn in three. They have each scored 10 goals nine the process. In their last five meetings, Elche have won one, Athletic three with one draw.

Elche 1-1(P) Athletic Bilbao 22/01/20

Athletic Bilbao 1-0 Elche 03/01/21

Elche 2-0 Athletic Bilbao 22/05/21

Elche 0-0 Athletic Bilbao 16/08/21

Athletic Bilbao 2-1 Elche 03/04/22

Elche latest home form

Elche have recently failed to keep a good run of form at home, having won just one of their five most recent matches. They were beaten 1-0 by Real Sociedad in their last home game in the league. In their last five matches, they have scored four goals and conceded seven.

Elche 1-3 Villarreal II 20/07/22

Elche 2-1 Leganes 23/07/22

Elche 0-1 Ibiza 02/08/22

Elche 1-1 Almeria 22/08/22

Elche 0-1 Real Sociedad 27/08/22

Elche latest away form

Elche have recently failed to keep a good run of form on the road, having won just two of their seven most recent matches. They were beaten 4-0 by Villarreal in their last away game in the league. In their last five matches, they have scored four goals and conceded nine.

Getafe 0-1 Elche 27/07/22

FC Cartagena 2-0 Elche 30/07/22

La Nucia 0-3 Elche 02/08/22

Real Betis 3-0 Elche 15/08/22

Villarreal 4-0 Elche 04/09/22

Athletic Bilbao latest home form

Athletic Bilbao were beaten 1-0 by Espanyol in their last home game in the league. However, they have recently been on a good run of form at home, as they have been unbeaten in their previous seven games. In their last five matches, they have scored three goals and conceded two.

Athletic Bilbao 1-0 Real Sociedad 05/08/22

Athletic Bilbao 1-1 Alaves 06/08/22

Athletic Bilbao 0-0 Mallorca 15/08/22

Athletic Bilbao 1-0 Valencia 21/08/22

Athletic Bilbao 0-1 Espanyol 04/09/22

Athletic Bilbao latest away form

Athletic Bilbao have recently been on a relatively good run of form on the road, having lost just one of their five most recent matches. The defeated Cadiz 4-0 in their last away game in the league. In their last five matches, they have scored 13 goals and conceded four.

Bochum 1-4 Athletic Bilbao 21/07/22

Mainz 1-1 Athletic Bilbao 23/07/22

Newcastle United 2-1 Athletic Bilbao 30/07/22

Mirandes 0-3 Athletic Bilbao 31/07/22

Cadiz 0-4 Athletic Bilbao 29/08/22

Elche news

Roger Marti and Gerard Gumbau are both pushing to be recalled to the Elche XI given the manner of last weekend’s defeat at Villarreal.

Lucas Boye and Raul Guti are the most likely candidates to drop out of the side, but the defence could remain the same should Pol Lirola not return from injury.

Athletic Bilbao news

Valverde could stick with the same starting lineup from last time out, but Yuri Berchiche would come into contention for a recall if he shakes off a foot injury.

Raul Garcia is unlikely to be handed his first start of the season despite featuring as a substitute in the opening four matches.

Prediction and Odds

Despite losing 1-0 to Espanyol last time out, Athletic Bilbao will feel confident of quickly bouncing back, with that being their only loss of the new season.

However, we feel that Elche will remain competitive throughout the game and we envision the game ending in a draw or an away win.

Odds: 1 2.28 X 2.05 2 2.10