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 | Barcelona | 27 | 19 | 3 | 5 | 75 | 27 | +48 | 60 |
| 2 | Real Madrid | 28 | 18 | 6 | 4 | 59 | 27 | +32 | 60 |
| 3 | Atlético de Madrid | 28 | 16 | 8 | 4 | 46 | 22 | +24 | 56 |
| 4 | Athletic Bilbao | 28 | 14 | 10 | 4 | 46 | 24 | +22 | 52 |
| 5 | Villarreal | 27 | 12 | 8 | 7 | 49 | 38 | +11 | 44 |
| 6 | Real Betis | 28 | 12 | 8 | 8 | 38 | 35 | +3 | 44 |
| 7 | Mallorca | 28 | 11 | 7 | 10 | 28 | 34 | -6 | 40 |
| 8 | Celta Vigo | 28 | 11 | 6 | 11 | 41 | 41 | +0 | 39 |
| 9 | Rayo Vallecano | 28 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 31 | 31 | +0 | 37 |
| 10 | Sevilla | 28 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 32 | 37 | -5 | 36 |
| 11 | Getafe | 28 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 25 | 23 | +2 | 36 |
| 12 | Real Sociedad | 28 | 10 | 5 | 13 | 25 | 30 | -5 | 35 |
| 13 | Girona | 28 | 9 | 7 | 12 | 36 | 41 | -5 | 34 |
| 14 | Osasuna | 27 | 7 | 12 | 8 | 33 | 39 | -6 | 33 |
| 15 | Espanyol | 27 | 7 | 7 | 13 | 26 | 39 | -13 | 28 |
| 16 | Valencia | 28 | 6 | 10 | 12 | 31 | 46 | -15 | 28 |
| 17 | Alaves | 28 | 6 | 9 | 13 | 32 | 42 | -10 | 27 |
| 18 | Leganes | 28 | 6 | 9 | 13 | 26 | 43 | -17 | 27 |
| 19 | Las Palmas | 28 | 6 | 7 | 15 | 32 | 47 | -15 | 25 |
| 20 | Real Valladolid | 28 | 4 | 4 | 20 | 18 | 63 | -45 | 16 |
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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