Athletic Bilbao vs Villarreal Live Stream, Predictions

📏 Form Guide

Athletic Bilbao

WLDDDW

Athletic Bilbao fans will want a repeat of their previous result, being a 0-4 La Liga victory versus Cádiz.

In that game, Athletic Bilbao managed 58% possession and 13 shots on goal with 8 on target. For Athletic Bilbao, goals were scored by Álex Berenguer (4', 29'), Unai López (15') and Iñaki Williams (52'). Cádiz had 11 shots on goal with 2 on target.

It’s not been often in recent games that Athletic Bilbao have shown defensive steel. In fact, Los Leones have seen their defence breached in 5 of their previous 6 matches, letting in 6 goals on the way. It will be interesting to find out if that trend will be sustained here.

A look at their previous results shows us that Athletic Bilbao:

• are unbeaten in the league by Villarreal in their last 4 matches.
• are undefeated in their last 2 home league matches.

Villarreal

WDLDLW ⚖

Villarreal will go into this game following a 0-2 Europa League win as they beat Red Bull Salzburg in their last game.

In that match, Villarreal had 53% possession and 8 shots at goal with 4 of them on target. For Villarreal, the goals were scored by Paco Alcácer (41') and Fernando Niño (71'). For their opponents, FC Red Bull Salzburg had 12 attempts on goal with 2 on target.

During their 6 latest matches, Unai Emery's Villarreal have found the back of the net 7 times - earning them the goals scored per game average of 1.17.

Looking at the pre-match facts, Villarreal:

• are unbeaten in their previous 3 away league matches.
• are without an away win for the past 2 matches in the league.

🤜🤛 Head to head

Looking over their most recent head to head meetings stretching back to 09/04/2018 shows us that Athletic Bilbao have won 2 of them & Villarreal 1, with the tally of drawn matches being 3.

A combined sum of 12 goals were shared by the two clubs in these games, with 6 from Los Leones and 6 coming from El Submarino Amarillo. That’s an average goals per game figure of 2.

The last league encounter featuring the two was La Liga match day 15 on 22/12/2020 which finished with the scoreline of Villarreal 1-1 Athletic Bilbao.

On that occasion, Villarreal had 65% possession and 17 attempts at goal with 6 of them on target. Their only player to score was Yeremi Pino (74').

For their opponents, Athletic Bilbao got 9 shots at goal with 3 of them on target. Iñaki Williams (19') scored.

The referee was David Medié Jiménez.

📋 Team News: Athletic Bilbao

Iñigo Vicente (Corona virus), Peru Nolaskoain (Sprained ankle) and Mikel Balenziaga (Strain) are not available for Bilbao gaffer Marcelino García Toral.

📋 Team News: Villarreal

Villarreal boss Unai Emery has to currently contend with reduced team options. Francis Coquelin (Ankle Injury), Mario Gaspar (Muscle Injury), Alberto Moreno (Cruciate Ligament Rupture) and Vicente Iborra (Cruciate Ligament Rupture) will miss out on this game.

⚡ Prediction

When taking all factors into account, Villarreal and Athletic Bilbao could both well score here although it’s hard to see a clear-cut winner.

We’ll see, but this looks like it could end up all-square. We therefore see a very even match with a 1-1 score when all is said and done.

Our expert partners are tipping under 3.5 goals for this match. Check out their VIP predictions here.

Peter Guest, 00:16 17/02/2021