Alaves-Athletic Bilbao is a match valid for the sixth day of La Liga and is played on Friday at 21:00: formations, predictions, TV and streaming.
Alaves are also upstairs confirming their home vocation, which was already evident last year in the Segunda Division. The Vitoria-Gasteiz club has not lost at home since last January, against Sevilla in the Copa del Rey. Since then, playoffs included, they have always managed to avoid defeat in front of their own public.
Hitherto Luis Garcia’s men have been two for two: firstly, they took the scalp of big (or supposedly big) rivals Sevilla in a pyrotechnic 4-3 draw, and then they narrowly beat Valencia 1-0 at the Mendizorroza thanks to an own goal. Away from home, however, things have been different: Alaves have a performance away from home that to call it disastrous is almost an understatement. The Basques have always lost (Cadiz, Getafe and Rayo Vallecano) without ever finding the way of goal. A two-faced team, if you like, that will have to win a few points on the road if they want to reach a quiet salvation and not relegate one year after promotion. On the sixth day of the La Liga fixture, meanwhile, an all-Basque derby returns against Athletic Bilbao, who have only won once against their ‘cousins’ Alaves in their last five fixtures.
Breaking the Mendizorroza taboo, however, will not be impossible if Ernesto Valverde’s red-and-whites can replicate their fine performance against Cadiz on Saturday, when they were overwhelmed 3-0 at the San Mames.
Villalibre celebrates after a goal
Villalibre celebrates after a goal Against the Andalusians, Athletic Bilbao claimed their third win of the season and their fourth positive result in a row. Inaki Williams and his team-mates have conceded nothing since the opening defeat against Real Madrid (0-2). In fact, they did: the only points they lost on the road were in the Balearic Islands against Mallorca, not going beyond a blank-net draw (0-0). In the standings they are momentarily fourth behind Real Madrid, Barça and Girona: returning to Europe this year should not be a problem.
The Prediction
Athletic Bilbao are confident and their attack is also scoring with some consistency. But the derby with Alaves, unbeaten since January at home, hides many pitfalls. There is the risk of seeing an initially deadlocked game, which could ignite as soon as one of the two finds the way to goal: both are likely to score on at least one occasion.
Alaves-Athletic Bilbao matchday squad
- ALAVES (4-3-3): Sivera; Gorosabel, Sedlar, Rafa Marin, Duarte; Guridi, Guevara, Blanco; Alex Sola, Kike Garcia, Rioja.
- ATHLETIC BILBAO (4-2-3-1): Unai Simon; De Marcos, Vivian, Yeray, Yuri; Vesga, Ruiz de Galarreta; I. Williams, Sancet, Berenguer; Guruzeta.
POSSIBLE RESULT: 1-1
