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Athletic Bilbao and Sevilla Meet Again

13/01/19
Athletic Bilbao and Sevilla Meet Again
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Having played in the Copa de Rey on Thursday night, Athletic Bilbao and Sevilla lock horns once more but this time in La Liga.  The match will take place on Sunday at the San Mamés Barria with the teams needing a win for different reasons.

Athletic Bilbao start the weekend sitting in 17th place, just 2 points and once place above the relegation zone.  Anything other than a win could see them slip back into the danger zone.

Sevilla will consider themselves part of the title race this season.  They are third in the table ahead of the weekend fixtures, 7 points behind leaders Barcelona.  A win could see the move up to second place.

Athletic Bilbao will be disappointed to have lost the first leg of their Copa del Rey round of 16 tie to Sevilla but overall performance has seen an improvement recently. They have lost just one of their last six games in all competitions, which was the defeat in the Copa del Rey.

La Liga form shows Athletic Bilbao have won two and drawn two of their last four matches.  There has been wins over Girona at home and Celta Vigo away plus draws with Deportivo Alaves away and Real Valladolid at home.

Despite having only one defeat in their last eight games in all competitions, trends show Athletic Bilbao have won just four of their last twenty-five games, which is a very poor record.  They have failed to score more than a single goal in each of their last seven home La Liga games and have seen under 2.5 goals in each of the last four.

Sevilla make the trip north for the second time in a week having won the Copa del Rey first leg tie on Thursday and will be feeling good about their chances of winning this one. Trend show Sevilla are in good form in La Liga have remained undefeated in their last nine La Liga matches.  Their good run extends beyond that and they have lost only three of their last twenty-two La Liga games.

However, Sevilla may be undefeated in their last four away La Liga matches but they have failed to win any of the last five, drawing each of the last four.  Sevilla have seen under 2.5 goals in each of their last four away league games.

Team news and Athletic Bilbao are without the injured duo of Mikel Rico and Inigo Lekue.  Yeray could come back into the defence following suspension but Yuri is injured and could be replaced at left-back by Mikel Balenziaga.

Sevilla travel without Franco Vazquez and Daniel Carrico who are both serving a suspension.  Gabi Mercado returns from a ban but may be forced to settle for a place on the bench with Joris Gnagnon starting in defence.

Athletic Bilbao will be hoping to continue their La Liga revival this weekend but it could come to an end at the hands of Sevilla.  The visitors are looking good this season and could come away with a narrow one goal victory.

La Liga
OVERALL TABLE PTS GP W D L +/-
1
Real Madrid 87 34 27 6 1 52
2
Girona 74 34 23 5 6 31
3
Barcelona 73 34 22 7 5 27
4
Atlético Madrid 67 34 21 4 9 24
5
Athletic Bilbao 61 34 17 10 7 22
6
Real Sociedad 54 34 14 12 8 13
7
Real Betis 52 34 13 13 8 4
8
Valencia 47 34 13 8 13 -2
9
Villarreal 45 34 12 9 13 -2
10
Getafe 43 34 10 13 11 -6
11
Deportivo Alavés 41 34 11 8 15 -6
12
Sevilla 41 34 10 11 13 -1
13
Osasuna 39 34 11 6 17 -14
14
Las Palmas 37 34 10 7 17 -13
15
Celta Vigo 34 34 8 10 16 -12
16
Rayo Vallecano 34 34 7 13 14 -16
17
Real Mallorca 32 34 6 14 14 -13
18
Cadiz 26 34 4 14 16 -26
19
Granada CF 21 34 4 9 21 -28
20
UD Almería 17 34 2 11 21 -34

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