Preview: Espanyol vs. Athletic Bilbao - prediction, team news, lineups

The home side's recent struggles have seen them drop into 18th spot in the table, while Athletic sit seventh, seven points behind sixth-placed Villarreal ahead of the next set of fixtures in Spain's top flight.

Match preview

Espanyol finished 14th in La Liga last season on their return to the top flight, but the Catalan outfit are facing the possibility of dropping back down to the Segunda Division for the 2023-24 campaign.

A disappointing season has seen the White and Blues pick up just 27 points from 27 matches, which has left them in 18th position in the table.

It is so tight towards the bottom of the division, though, with only four points separating 19th-placed Almeria from Sevilla in 13th, with only Elche being cut adrift at this stage of the season.

Espanyol sacked Diego Martinez as head coach following the 2-1 loss at Girona on Saturday, which proved to be a fourth straight defeat for the Catalan side in Spain's top flight.

Luis Garcia, who represented Espanyol as a player between 2005 and 2011, is now in charge on an interim basis, and the 42-year-old will be desperate to make the perfect start to his reign this weekend.

Athletic will not be in the mood to hand out any favours in this match, though, as they suffered huge disappointment in the Copa del Rey on Tuesday night.

Inaki Williams scored in the 33rd minute of the second leg of their semi-final with Osasuna to level the tie, but Pablo Ibanez won it for Jaboba Arrasate's side late on, as Athletic missed the chance to advance to the final of the competition, with Osasuna instead taking on Real Madrid.

Athletic's full focus will now be on the league, with the Lions currently sitting seventh in the table, boasting 37 points from their opening 27 matches of the campaign.

The Basque outfit are level on points with eighth-placed Rayo Vallecano and seven behind Villarreal in sixth, and they will be bidding to return to winning ways in the league this weekend, having played out a goalless draw with Getafe last weekend.

Athletic suffered a 1-0 loss to Espanyol in the reverse match in the league earlier this season, but they have managed to pick up 16 points from their 13 away league games this term.

Espanyol La Liga form:

W

W

L

L

L

L

Athletic Bilbao La Liga form:

L

L

D

L

W

D

Athletic Bilbao form (all competitions):

L

D

L

W

D

D

Team News

Espanyol will be missing Brian Olivan, Gori and Adria Pedrosa through injury this weekend, while Sergi Gomez is out of the match following his red card against Girona.

Leandro Cabrera is available again following a suspension, though, and the Uruguayan is set to return to the starting side on Saturday.

Nico Melamed is also expected to return in the middle of the park, but there are unlikely to be many alterations from the game against Girona, with Martin Braithwaite and Javi Puado set to again support Joselu, who has 12 league goals to his name this term.

As for Athletic, Inigo Lekue, Jon Morcillo and Ander Herrera will miss the match through injury.

The Basque side did not pick up any fresh issues against Osasuna, but there could be a couple of changes, with Dani Vivian and Alex Berenguer potentially coming into the XI.

Inaki Williams and Nico Williams are both set to operate in the final third of the field, while Iker Muniain is expected to again feature in a deeper area for the Lions.

Espanyol possible starting lineup:

Pacheco; R Sanchez, Montes, Cabrera, Gil; Puado, Vinicius, Melamed, Braithwaite; Darder; Joselu

Athletic Bilbao possible starting lineup:

Aguirrezabala; De Marcos, Vivian, I Martinez, Yuri; Sancet, Vesga, Muniain; Berenguer, I Williams, N Williams

We say: Espanyol 2-2 Athletic Bilbao

This has all of the makings of an entertaining contest, and we are expecting goals in Saturday's affair. Espanyol have the second-worst home record in the league this season, but Athletic have won just four times on their travels, so we are backing a draw here.

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