Mallorca vs Ath Bilbao prediction: SPAIN: LaLiga betting tips on match 2023-04-30 17:00.
Although they’re never far from the beach, Mallorca will be trying to ensure they don’t head there too early having already reached the 40-point mark which is typically associated with safety. The Pirates suffered their first loss in over a month against Atlético Madrid in midweek, with head coach Javier Aguirre blaming a “lack of concentration and bad decisions” for his team’s 3-1 defeat in the capital.
A swift return home should suit Mallorca as they bid to get back to winning ways given they’ve lost just one of their last ten matches (W6, D3) on their own turf in La Liga (LL) . They’ve accumulated an impressive 63% of their points at home, a strong return they’ll be confident of improving against Athletic Bilbao given their solid H2H record as the hosts (W14, D10, L8).
Athletic come to town after a particularly painful defeat to Sevilla on Thursday evening, a match they controlled for large periods before eventually conceding a stoppage-time penalty as they went down 1-0. Boss Ernesto Valverde said there’s “no room for regret” over those dropped points as his side continue their hunt for a European finish, something they’re not guaranteed with a top-seven finish thanks to Osasuna’s progression to the Copa del Rey final.
The Lions start this round three points adrift of the top-six with just seven games remaining, so they’ll need to start making inroads into that gap as quickly as possible. An away assignment perhaps comes at the perfect time as Athletic have won each of their last three league games on the road, but they haven’t managed four successive away victories in LL this century!
Players to watch: Mallorca’s Kang-in Lee has seen each of his five strikes this term arrive after half-time. An away specialist, Athletic starlet Nico Williams has seen seven of his nine goals this season come on the road.
Hot stat: Mallorca home matches average just 1.8 goals per game, the lowest in the division.