ATHLETIC BILBAO are on a push for a top-six finish in La Liga this season. They will look to extend their current unbeaten run of form on the weekend when they travel to the out-of-sort Rayo Vallecano. Here we preview the full match on Saturday, November 30th from the Vallecas Stadium.
How the bookies view it: Bilbao narrow road favourites
Athletic Bilbao are unbeaten in their last nine matches in all competitions, so carry good form into this La Liga fixture. It’s a tricky one on the road, however, and they are only narrow 13/8 favourites. That’s fair considering they have won just two of six road games this season. Rayo Vallecano are 15/8 for the win after falling out of form recently.
Recent head-to-head: Low-scoring duels
There have been just four goals scored in total in the last four meetings between the two teams at the Vallecas Stadium and each of the last three there have ended under 1.5 goals. Bilbao won both league meetings to nil against Rayo last season and are unbeaten in their last five against them (W3 D2). Athletic Bilbao are also unbeaten in their last five away matches against Rayo Vallecano, so at least appear capable of a draw on the weekend. Overall, Bilbao are W18 D11 L6 in the head-to-head.
Players to watch: Williams to shine again?
Athletic Bilbao’s Nico Williams scored in both league meetings against Rayo Vallecano last season. So that makes him an interesting one to watch in the goalscorer markets. Despite him only scoring once in the league this season, there is a bit of value in Williams at 4/1 in the anytime goalscorer market.
Bilbo’s top league scorer this season is Oihan Sancet with five in eleven appearances. But they have both Gorka Guruzeta and Inaki Williams (who also scored against Rayo last season) on three each as well. They carry the bigger scoring record, having tallied seven goals more than Rayo Vallecano in La Liga this season.
The top scorer for Madrid-based Rayo Vallecano is Jorge Frutos with three, but he is on a four-match goalless streak in the league at the moment. As a team, Vallecano have scored just two goals in total in their last four league outings.
Predicted Lineups
Unai Lopez is out through suspension for Rayo, but otherwise, their squad looks pretty full-strength for the weekend. The visiting Bilbao aren’t almost at full strength as well, but miss the suspended Benat Prados.
Rayo Vallecano: Batalla; Ratiu, Lejeune, Mumin, Chavarria; Gumbau, Valentin, Ciss; De Frutos, Camello, A Garcia
Athletic Bilbao: Simon; De Marcos, Vivian, Yeray, Yuri; Ruiz de Galarreta, Jaureguizar; I Williams, Sancet, N Williams; Djalo
Anything else catches the eye?
Athletic Bilbao are unbeaten in five league games but won only two of those. They haven’t been a major goal-scoring threat recently, failing to score more than one goal in any of their last four matches. Their away record for this La Liga campaign stands at W2 D2 L2.
The two losses in that sequence happened at Barcelona and Girona, who are both top-eight sides and both of those losses were by a 1-goal margin. For another trend, Athletic Bilbao have scored at least two goals in both of their away wins this season.
Rayo have slumped to three losses in their last four league games after a five-match unbeaten streak of form. In their last home match, they were stunned by Las Palmas who are just above the drop zone. The question for the home side is whether they have the scoring threat to push on and grab a win against a fairly well-organised Bilbao defence.
This La Liga match between Rayo Vallecano and Athletic Bilbao will be played on Dec 1, 2024 and kick off at 15:30. Check below for our tipsters best Rayo Vallecano vs Athletic Bilbao prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
