Friday’s La Liga offering sees Alaves host in-form Athletic Bilbao

Deportivo Alavés vs Athletic Bilbao - 22/09/2023

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Athletic Bilbao will aim to extend their unbeaten streak in La Liga to five matches when they face Deportivo Alaves at Mendizorrotza on Friday night.

Having taken 10 points from a possible 15 this season, the visitors occupy fourth place in the La Liga table – trailing only Real Madrid, Barcelona and Girona.

At the opposite end of the standings, the hosts find themselves 14th – three points outside the relegation zone – having collected six points so far.

Deportivo Alaves head into Friday’s clash on the back of a 2-0 defeat at Rayo Vallecano, facing a barrage of 20 shots while managing a solitary attempt on target in reply.

As a result, Alaves have lost three of their five La Liga matches this season, recording 1-0 defeats to Cadiz and Getafe before falling to Rayo Vallecano.

That said, Alaves have claimed a couple of notable scalps this term, defeating Sevilla 4-3 before securing a 1-0 victory over Valencia earlier this month.

It is also worth noting that Deportivo Alaves boast a 100% record at Mendizorrotza in 2023-24, meaning they will fancy their chances of halting Athletic Bilbao’s momentum.

Meanwhile, Athletic clinched a 3-0 victory over Cadiz last time out, extending their unbeaten run to four matches in the process.

Bilbao’s only defeat this season came against Real Madrid on the opening weekend, with three wins and one draw coming since then.

Not only have Athletic won three of their last four games, but they have also kept three clean sheets along the way – highlighting their defensive solidity.

In fact, only table-topping Real Madrid (3) have conceded fewer La Liga goals than Athletic Bilbao (4) this season. Can they continue to challenge the division’s top teams?

Head-to-head: Both sides have won two of the past eight league meetings, playing out four draws in the process. This suggests that Friday’s clash will be a tight affair.

It is also worth noting that a clean sheet has occurred in each of the previous four meetings between Alaves and Athletic, with both teams keeping three shutouts in that time.

Team news: Deportivo Alaves will be without Giuliano Simeone for an extended period after the 20-year-old forward sustained a broken leg.

As for Athletic Bilbao, 21-year-old forward Nico Williams is absent with a muscle injury, while midfielder Peru Nolaskoain will miss Friday’s showdown due to a knee problem.

If recent meetings between these two sides are anything to go by, the upcoming clash will be a close-fought battle with a limited number of goals.

Given the current form of the visitors, Forebet predicts that Athletic Bilbao will claim a clean-sheet victory over Deportivo Alaves.

Home team
Away team

Probability %

1X2

Pred

Correct score

Avg. goals

Weather conditions

Coef.

Score

Live
coef.

Es1

Deportivo Alavés Athletic Bilbao 22/09/2023 21:00

272944

2

0 - 2

2.23

15°

2.25

3.60 3.00 2.25 no no no

FT

0 - 2(0 - 1)

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