Football Previews
Match info:
Villarreal vs Athletic Bilbao
Competition – Spanish Primera Liga
Stadium – El Madrigal
Date: 17th March
Kick-off time – 21:00 GMT+1
4th place Athletic Bilbao travel to El Madrigal this Monday evening to face 6th position Villarreal in the Spanish Primera Liga.
Recent form:
Both sides have won 2 of their last 7 games.
The Spanish Primera table looks like this:
| # | Team | MP | W | D | L | F | A | G | P |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Atlético de Madrid | 18 | 12 | 5 | 1 | 33 | 12 | +21 | 41 |
| 2 | Barcelona | 19 | 12 | 2 | 5 | 51 | 22 | +29 | 38 |
| 3 | Real Madrid | 17 | 11 | 4 | 2 | 37 | 16 | +21 | 37 |
| 4 | Athletic Bilbao | 19 | 10 | 6 | 3 | 29 | 17 | +12 | 36 |
| 5 | Mallorca | 19 | 9 | 3 | 7 | 19 | 21 | -2 | 30 |
| 6 | Villarreal | 17 | 7 | 6 | 4 | 29 | 28 | +1 | 27 |
| 7 | Real Sociedad | 18 | 7 | 4 | 7 | 16 | 13 | +3 | 25 |
| 8 | Girona | 18 | 7 | 4 | 7 | 26 | 25 | +1 | 25 |
| 9 | Osasuna | 18 | 6 | 7 | 5 | 23 | 27 | -4 | 25 |
| 10 | Celta Vigo | 18 | 7 | 3 | 8 | 27 | 28 | -1 | 24 |
| 11 | Real Betis | 17 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 20 | 21 | -1 | 24 |
| 12 | Sevilla | 17 | 6 | 4 | 7 | 18 | 23 | -5 | 22 |
| 13 | Rayo Vallecano | 17 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 19 | 20 | -1 | 21 |
| 14 | Las Palmas | 17 | 5 | 4 | 8 | 22 | 27 | -5 | 19 |
| 15 | Leganes | 17 | 4 | 6 | 7 | 15 | 23 | -8 | 18 |
| 16 | Getafe | 18 | 3 | 7 | 8 | 11 | 15 | -4 | 16 |
| 17 | Alaves | 17 | 4 | 4 | 9 | 19 | 28 | -9 | 16 |
| 18 | Espanyol | 17 | 4 | 3 | 10 | 16 | 29 | -13 | 15 |
| 19 | Real Valladolid | 18 | 3 | 3 | 12 | 12 | 37 | -25 | 12 |
| 20 | Valencia | 16 | 2 | 5 | 9 | 14 | 24 | -10 | 11 |
A win for Villarreal will move them into 5th position.
A win for Athletic Bilbao will not improve their position but move them closer to a guaranteed Champions League position and more importantly, push them further ahead of Villarreal.
Head-to-head
These two sides have met 27 times in recent years and Villarreal have come out on top most often.
The last 5 meetings between these two sides finished 0:2, 2:2, 1:1, 1:0 and 4:1.
Possible line-ups
Villarreal (4-4-2)
Athletic Bilbao (4-5-1)
Bookmakers make Villarreal slight favourites to come out on top in this match.
Odds: Villarreal (13/10) Draw (23/10) Bilbao (21/10)Gamingtips Prediction – Villarreal 1:2 Bilbao
Villarreal have struggled recently losing 4 of their last 7 games – worryingly they have conceded 10 goals in their 5 matches. Athletic Bilbao are the 5th highest scoring team in the league and have the 4th best defensive record – they have lost just 1 of their last 6 and conceded just 3 goals in their last 5 games. Ultimately this is a very tough game on paper and the betting odds reflect this – Villarreal have one of the best defensive records (5th) in the division however their form of late has been below average and if they don’t perform against a very strong Bilbao side, they may suffer back-to-back losses. 
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