Athletic Bilbao vs Almeria

Athletic Bilbao and Almeria are set to square off at the Estadio San Mamés in an exciting La Liga match-up.

Athletic Bilbao picked themselves up from an early deficit to claim an eye-catching 3-2 home triumph over Rayo Vallecano on the stroke of September’s international break, completing their best six-game La Liga start in the 21st century (W4, D1, L1). Interestingly, Inaki and Nico Williams were both on the scoresheet as Athletic sunk Vallecano last time out, becoming the first pair of brothers since 2005 to score in the same La Liga fixture. ‘Los Leones’ can draw more confidence from their stellar top-flight form against Almeria, having won seven of their last eight La Liga H2Hs (D1). Furthermore, the Basque heavyweights have won four successive home league meetings with Almeria since a 3-1 loss in 2008, notably scoring 4+ goals in two of those four victories.

On the other hand, visiting Almeria slumped to a narrow 1-0 defeat at Mallorca last time out, making it three La Liga losses on the spin. The visitors are already flirting with the relegation zone, having entered the international break level on points with 18th-placed Valladolid. Since Almeria’s bid to avoid a swift return to the Segunda Division has been off to an abysmal start, head coach Rubi has already come under heavy scrutiny. Indeed, ‘Los Rojiblancos’ have failed to find the net in their last three La Liga outings since selling former talisman Umar Sadiq to Real Sociedad. The visitors are now facing the risk of losing four consecutive top-flight matches without scoring for the first time since 2011! However, after netting in five of their six La Liga visits to Bilbao in the 21st century, things could change this weekend.