Flowing their impressive win over leaders Atletico Madrid, Athletic Bilbao host Real Valladolid in a midweek Spanish La Liga fixture at San Mames Barria. The Basque club will hope to use that win as a springboard for a positive end to the season and should overcome the struggling visitors.
Athletic Bilbao showed their quality last time out in La Liga as they claimed a 2-1 victory over leaders Atletico Madrid. Inigo Martinez headed home the winner after Alex Berenguer's early opener had been cancelled out by the Madrid club.
The Basque club appear to have brushed aside the heartbreak of losing two Copa Del Rey Finals in the space of two weeks. They sit 10th on the table but can leapfrog Granada and Celta Vigo into eighth position with a win on Wednesday.
Marcelino’s men are unbeaten in their last seven home matches and while a bulk of those fixtures have ended in draws, there were some key wins in that run. They triumphed 2-1 against Granada and grabbed a 5-1 victory over Getafe.
Real Valladolid were held to a 1-1 draw by Cadiz in their previous La Liga fixture. They took a lead into the break thanks to Oscar Plano's early strike but were unable to hold on and conceded the equaliser midway through the second half.
The result extended Valladolid’s winless run to six matches and pushed them into the bottom three. Sergio’s men have actually claimed just one win in their last 15 matches and are now 18th on the table, one point from safety.
Valladolid have also struggled on their travels this season with just two away wins the entire campaign. They are winless in their last seven La Liga matches on the road with 1-0 defeats to Deportivo Alaves and Barcelona among their results in that run.
How the bookies view it
The bookies have installed Athletic Bilbao as favourites with SBK offering 8/9 for a home win. A victory for Valladolid is valued at 9/2 by William Hill while a draw is set at odds of 23/10 by Skybet.
Bilbao can build on their victory against Atletico Madrid and should claim the win on Wednesday.
Head to head
Athletic Bilbao have 18 wins and 14 draws from 43 previous matches against Real Valladolid. Valladolid have claimed 11 wins, including a 2-1 victory in the reverse fixture back in November.
Players to watch
Alex Berenguer is the leading scorer for Athletic Bilbao with eight goals and will be the one to watch on Wednesday. Bet365 has the forward at 3/1 to score anytime while the first goal is valued at odds of 8/1 by the same firm.
Oscar Plano remains the biggest attacking threat for Real Valladolid and the forward will be hoping to build on his goal last time out. He is priced at 5/1 by Paddy Power in the anytime goalscorer market.
Anything else catch the eye?
Athletic Bilbao and Real Valladolid have produced over 2.5 goals in their last three meetings and a similar outcome is priced at 39/29 by SBK. Sport Nation is also offering 15/13 on both teams to score.
It might be worth a punt backing goals in both halves at 21/20 with William Hill while Bilbao are also likely to score in both halves at 15/13 with Sport Nation.
This La Liga match between Athletic Bilbao and Real Valladolid will be played on Apr 28, 2021 and kick off at 18:00. Check below for our tipsters best Athletic Bilbao vs Real Valladolid prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
