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 | 12 | 11 | 0 | 1 | 40 | 11 | +29 | 33 |
| 2 | Real Madrid | 11 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 21 | 11 | +10 | 24 |
| 3 | Atlético de Madrid | 12 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 18 | 7 | +11 | 23 |
| 4 | Villarreal | 11 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 20 | 19 | +1 | 21 |
| 5 | Osasuna | 12 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 17 | 16 | +1 | 21 |
| 6 | Athletic Bilbao | 12 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 18 | 12 | +6 | 19 |
| 7 | Real Betis | 12 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 12 | 10 | +2 | 19 |
| 8 | Mallorca | 12 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 10 | 9 | +1 | 18 |
| 9 | Rayo Vallecano | 12 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 13 | 13 | +0 | 16 |
| 10 | Celta Vigo | 12 | 5 | 1 | 6 | 18 | 20 | -2 | 16 |
| 11 | Real Sociedad | 12 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 10 | 10 | +0 | 15 |
| 12 | Girona | 12 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 15 | 17 | -2 | 15 |
| 13 | Sevilla | 12 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 12 | 17 | -5 | 15 |
| 14 | Alaves | 12 | 4 | 1 | 7 | 14 | 19 | -5 | 13 |
| 15 | Las Palmas | 13 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 16 | 22 | -6 | 12 |
| 16 | Leganes | 12 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 12 | 16 | -4 | 11 |
| 17 | Getafe | 12 | 1 | 7 | 4 | 8 | 10 | -2 | 10 |
| 18 | Espanyol | 12 | 3 | 1 | 8 | 11 | 22 | -11 | 10 |
| 19 | Real Valladolid | 12 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 9 | 24 | -15 | 8 |
| 20 | Valencia | 11 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 17 | -9 | 7 |
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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