Athletic Bilbao vs Villarreal
Spain – La Liga
Date: Sunday, 21 February 2021
Kick-off at 20:00 UK/ 21:00 CET
Venue: Estadio San Mames (Bilbao).
Buoyed by a thrilling 4-0 win over Cadiz, Athletic Club will be aiming to give fans yet another reason for celebration when they host Villarreal at their Estadio San Mames on Sunday evening.
The Lions aim to keep their Europa League hopes alive, and we are positive that they will go all guns blazing at the Yellow Submarine.
A man to keep an eye on in the home team will be Inaki Williams, who impressed in the crushing of Cadiz. Athletic boss Marcelino can count on key players for Sunday’s clash.
Villarreal, on the other hand, do not seem to be at the top of their game, with the team eyeing their first league win since January 8, 2020.
The Yellows failed to impress in a 2-1 defeat to Real Betis, which is yet another reason why home win should be considered. Trigueros returns to contention after serving his one-game ban at the weekend.
Athletic Bilbao vs Villarreal Head-to-head (h2h)
Teams Athletic Bilbao Villarreal played so far 43 matches.
Athletic Bilbao won 13 direct matches. Villarreal won 17 matches. 13 matches ended in a draw. On average in direct matches both teams scored a 2.47 goals per Match.
Athletic Bilbao vs Villarreal Prediction
Athletic Bilbao in actual season average scored 1.50 goals per match. In 10 (76.92%) matches played at home was total goals (team and opponent) Over 1.5 goals. In 5 (38.46%) matches in season 2021 played at home was total goals (team and opponent) Over 2.5 goals.
Villarreal average scored 1.85 goals per match in season 2021. In 15 (71.43%) matches played away was total goals (team and opponent) Over 1.5 goals. In 9 (42.86%) matches played away team was total goals (team and opponent) Over 2.5 goals.
Team News:
Athletic will be without the services of Unai Nunez and Mikel Vesga this weekend through suspension, with both players picking up yellow cards in the win over Cadiz last time out. As a result, Inigo Martinez should return in the middle of the defence, while Dani Garcia is expected to replace Vesga.
Peru Nolaskoain is still unavailable through injury, but the Basque side are otherwise in excellent shape, meaning that head coach Marcelino has plenty of options for change.
Oscar de Marcos had been operating on the right of midfield, but Berenguer scored twice in the win over Cadiz and should therefore retain his spot alongside Inaki Williams, Iker Muniain and Raul Garcia in attack.
As for Villarreal, Manu Trigueros is available following a suspension and should start in midfield, but Francis Coquelin, Alberto Moreno, Vicente Iborra and Mario Gaspar are all still injured.
Head coach Emery is expected to stick with the bulk of the side that started in the Europa League on Thursday, with Alcacer, Gerard Moreno and Moi Gomez all operating in attacking positions.
There could be a change at left-back, though, with Alfonso Pedraza replacing Pervis Estupinan, while Sergio Asenjo will also return to the starting XI between the sticks.
Athletic Bilbao possible starting lineup:
Simon; Capa, Alvarez, Martinez, Berchiche; Berenguer, Lopez, D Garcia, Muniain; R Garcia, Williams
Villarreal possible starting lineup:
Asenjo; Pena, Albiol, Torres, Pedraza; Parejo, Capoue, Trigueros; G Moreno, Alcacer, M Gomez