Athletic Bilbao-Almeria is a Week 9 match in La Liga, to be played on Friday at 21:00: line-ups, predictions, TV and streaming.
If Athletic Bilbao’s aim is to return to Europe, they cannot afford to slip up like they did in last Saturday’s Basque derby against Real Sociedad, who literally crushed Ernesto Valverde’s side (3-0) at the Real Arena. A heavy defeat, which comes after a long run of positive results (6) and which risks affecting the players’ psychological level more than the classification.
The Leones are currently in sixth place, but if they win the match against Almeria they will move up two places, overtaking Atletico Madrid and Real Sociedad in one fell swoop and rejoining the top four. The chances of a return to success are very high: the Andalusians are unable to get out of last place in the standings, they are the only team that has not yet won a match and their defence is the most beaten in the tournament (21 goals conceded) along with that of the equally disastrous Granada. Almeria’s away performance is even worse: in their last away match Almeria conceded five goals at home to Sevilla, a setback that brought Vicente Moreno’s bench down. Only in Cadiz did the red and white manage to limit the damage, when they went unbeaten at Nuevo Mirandilla (1-1) last August. Led by an interim coach, Alberto Lasarte, the chances of turning things around against an Athletic side hungry for redemption are slim, especially considering the absence of centre forward Suarez. Among the Basques, on the other hand, the defection of midfielder de Galarreta is noted.
Almeria players
The Prediction
Athletic Bilbao should be able to turn things around immediately after their setback against Real Sociedad: Almeria are not scary and, looking at the defensive numbers of the visitors, it is possible to assume a large victory for the Basques, who are likely to score between 2 and 4 goals.
Athletic Bilbao-Almeria’s likely line-up
- ATHLETIC BILBAO (4-2-3-1): Unai Simon; De Marcos, Vivian, Yeray, Yuri; Herrera, Dani Garcia; I. Williams, Sancet, N. Williams; Guruzeta.
- ALMERIA (4-3-3): Maximiano; Chumi, Kaiky, Edgar, Akieme; Melero, Baba, Lopy; Arribas, Koné, Ramazani.
POSSIBLE RESULT: 3-1
