Leganes vs Ath Bilbao prediction: SPAIN: LaLiga betting tips on match 2024-09-18 17:00.
[p]Following their 2-0 loss to Real Betis at the weekend, Leganés will return home for what could be the most difficult assignment yet. Head coach Borja Jiménez denied the club had a scoring problem following their third consecutive goalless outing, instead blaming a lack of creativity from his side that led to a miserable 0.53 cumulative xG across those three outings. [/p]
[p]Jiménez has a tough task ahead as he looks to inspire the team to beat Athletic Bilbao at home for the first time since 2017 (D1, L1 since). However, considering the club won last season’s Segunda División with the league’s eighth-best home record, they can’t even draw a significant advantage from their surroundings until their results prove otherwise. [/p]
[p]The second of seven games in 22 days for Athletic presents them with the chance to provisionally move into the top-five after they put losses against unbeaten pair Barcelona and Atlético Madrid behind them. A hard-fought 3-2 win away to Las Palmas saw three different players on the end of Iñaki Williams’ assists in a display of their prowess in front of goal. [/p]
[p]Their two goals conceded both followed Mikel Jauregizar’s red card and can therefore be forgiven, particularly as longer term form suggests they should be difficult for Leganés’ attack to breach. Since the start of last season, Athletic have conceded 2+ goals in only three of 14 (W8, D4, L2) La Liga away trips against the 13 clubs that missed the European spots last season, further underlining the difficulty of the match for the hosts.[/p]
[p]Players to watch: Leganés recruit Renato Tapia has an excellent personal record against Athletic (W3, D1, L1), despite being booked in his last two winning H2Hs. Nico Williams combined with his brother last round to record what was his third consecutive La Liga goal to come away from home. [/p]
[p]Hot streak: The pre-match outsider failed to win each of Athletic’s last 17 La Liga matches (D5, L12).[/p]
[p][i]Written by Aaron Murphy[/i][/p]