Villarreal vs Ath Bilbao prediction: SPAIN: LaLiga betting tips on match 2023-11-04 17:30.
Villarreal’s La Liga (LL) season remains delicately poised after fending off a late fightback from Granada last weekend in a 3-2 win after steaming into a 3-0 lead inside 30 minutes. Defender Mateo Gabbia described the win against Granada as one that was “mentally needed to gain confidence and to climb up the standings”, which in turn raises hopes that their season is now heading down a more positive path.
They start this round six points from both sixth and 18th places in the table, adding further pressure to a November schedule that sees them playing three clubs currently above them in the standings. Perhaps some of those inconsistencies can be attributed to the fact the Villarreal fans haven’t seen a victory in three home league fixtures (D1, L2), partially due the last two games in that run seeing them concede the opener. But even a fast start doesn’t guarantee success as their last opening goal at home still resulted in a 2-1 loss to Girona.
Whilst club members continue to debate the future of Athletic Bilbao’s Basque-only selection off the pitch, head coach Ernesto Valverde has plenty to sort out on the field. They squandered an opportunity to take fifth place from Real Sociedad with a 2-2 draw against mid-table Valencia in the last round, and like their hosts, they too have collected only five points from their last five league outings (W1, D2, L2) with just one clean sheet in that time.
Unsuccessful trips to Barcelona (L 1-0) and Sociedad (L 3-0) contributed to that setback, and as far as this game is concerned perhaps Athletic can draw some inspiration from keeping clean sheets in each of their other three LL away games (W2, D1), all of which were against clubs currently beneath them in the table like Villarreal.
Players to watch: Villarreal veteran Gerard Moreno has rediscovered some of his best form, scoring their opening goal in each of their last three LL games. Iñaki Williams is the last player to open the scoring for Athletic in a LL away game, and was the only one on the scoresheet the last time they defeated Villarreal back in October 2022.
Hot stat: Athletic won six of their last nine LL away games as a pre-match favourite (D2, L1).