Espanyol vs Athletic Bilbao Match Preview & Prediction

Espanyol vs Athletic Bilbao predictions, H2H and match preview for this Saturday’s game in La Liga. Read on for analysis and predicted line-ups as a revitalised Espanyol target their first home win of the season.

Espanyol vs Athletic Bilbao Preview

This Saturday’s clash is huge for Espanyol who have found a new lease of life under a new coach and following some heavy investment this month in new players. However the reality is that they remain bottom of La Liga and they need to win games like this if they are going to claw themselves to safety this season.

Espanyol have already signed Raul De Tomas and Leandro Cabrera this month giving them proven top flight quality at centre-back and up front. That could make an enormous difference to their side and they are expected to take their total January spend to almost €40m with winger Adri Embarba set to move to the RCDE Stadium from Rayo Vallecano. He may not arrive in time for this one but the other two should feature for a team that has taken 4 points from 2 tough games since appointing Abelardo.

Athletic Club would be forgiven for cursing their luck that they are travelling to play Espanyol at this time and not a month earlier when the Barcelona club still looked like a hopeless cause. The Basques come into this following four straight league draws and even their Copa del Rey game in midweek finished level against Elche before Athletic progressed on penalties.

Gaizka Garitano’s men are persisting with Raul Garcia as their main striker. It’s certainly not the 33 year old’s natural position but he has chipped in with some key goals including an equaliser at home to Celta Vigo last weekend and does at least give them a physical presence up top. Jonathan Calleri is Espanyol’s equivalent and he should be much more effective now he has a player like Raul De Tomas alongside him to link up with.

Espanyol vs Athletic Bilbao Predictions

Score Prediction: 2-1 Espanyol

Espanyol have finally found something to build from and while their home record is still horrendous, you sense this could be the day they finally chalk up their first home victory of the season. A couple of good results so far under a new coach and some new players will lift the crowd at the RCDE and with Athletic not in great form, this could go Espanyol’s way.

Espanyol vs Athletic Bilbao Betting Tips & Odds (18+)

You can back Espanyol to Win 2-1 at 17/2 with Betfair.

You can view our main Espanyol-Athletic Bilbao tip as well as those for all the other matches over the weekend in La Liga by signing up to follow LaLigaExpert for free on Tipstrr. You can see our full profit/loss figures there.

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Espanyol vs Athletic Bilbao H2H

Last 6 Competitive Meetings: 2 Espanyol Wins, 2 Athletic Wins, 2 Draws.

Athletic were convincing 3-0 winners in the reverse fixture at San Mames.
However they’ve not won on any of their last 5 trips to the RCDE Stadium.
Espanyol have won 3 of the last 5 meetings in Cornella including a 1-0 win last season.

Predicted Line Ups

Espanyol Team:

Lopez – Vila, Bernardo, Cabrera, Gomez – Melendo, Roca, David Lopez, Darder – Calleri, De Tomas (4-4-2)

Athletic Team:

Herrerin – Balenziaga, Martinez, Yeray, Capa – Vesga, Dani Garcia – Ibai, Muniain, Williams – Raul Garcia (4-2-3-1)

Where to Watch

Espanyol vs Athletic Bilbao is live on the following channels:

Britain & Ireland: LaLigaTV | Indian subcontinent: Facebook | Sub-Saharan Africa: SuperSport 7

If you can’t watch La Liga matches live in your country or don’t have these channels, you may still be able to legally watch them online using ExpressVPN.

We have match previews for every game in La Liga this season.