Girona vs Ath Bilbao prediction: SPAIN: LaLiga betting tips on match 2024-10-05 12:00.
[p]Girona and Athletic Bilbao experienced contrasting European fortunes in midweek, but both will view their meeting on Sunday as winnable ahead of the international break. Girona endured a nightmare on Wednesday as they scored two own goals and failed to convert a penalty in a 3-2 UEFA Champions League defeat to Feyenoord, meaning that their winless run now stands at six matches in all competitions (D2, L4). [/p]
[p]The last time they endured a longer wait for a victory was all the way back in October 2022 (D3, L4), and while the Catalonians will be desperate to start racing up the table, they will remember that they failed to win either encounter last season against Athletic (D1, L1) – one of just three teams that Girona failed to beat in La Liga home or away in 2023/24 when they ended the season in third place.[/p]
[p]Athletic defeated AZ Alkmaar 2-0 on Thursday in the UEFA Europa League and, in polar opposite fashion to their upcoming opponents, are now unbeaten in six (W4, D2). That represents their longest outright sequence without losing since a mammoth 14-match streak between October 2023 and January 2024 (W11, D3) which set the Basque outfit on the path to Copa del Rey glory and played a significant role in securing a fifth-placed finish. [/p]
[p]Manager Ernesto Valverde should feel confident of stretching that run here, given he holds an excellent record against Girona boss Míchel in the dugout, having never lost to one of his sides in five meetings (W4, D1). They may have to do things the hard way here though, as Athletic have never kept a top-flight away H2H clean sheet.[/p]
[p]Key battle: Donny van de Beek scored his first goal since May 2022 in midweek, affording him the chance to get on the scoresheet in successive matches for the first time since January 2020 here. Looking to outshine him in midfield is likely to be Oihan Sancet, who netted for the fourth time this season to seal the points against AZ, although that was the first time in his last eight scoring appearances that Athletic have kept a clean sheet. [/p]
[p]Hot streak: The last five H2Hs have seen both teams score. [/p]
[p][i]Written by Alex Bowmer[/i][/p]