Malaga has got a hard task in front of them today, as they are facing Athletic Bilbao at La Rosaleda Stadium.
Malaga is currently at 17th position, with 5 points after 6 league matches played. The “Boquerones” have opened this season with a draw against Osasuna (1:1) and added another draw in the match that followed, against Espanyol (2:2). Following 2 consecutive draws, Malaga has racked up 3 defeats and 1 win. Villarreal (0:2), Las Palmas (1:0) and Betis (1:0) all managed to defeat Malaga, whereas Eibar (2:1) failed to do the same. With those poor performances, Malaga is just above the relegation zone and needs a win to keep themselves from sinking.
Athletic Bilbao are on a 4 matches winning streak in all competitions. After the defeat against Sassuolo in Liga Europa (3:0), Athletic Bilbao won against Valencia (2:1), Granada CF (1:2), Sevilla (3:1) and Rapid Vienna (1:0). In their domestic league, Athletic Bilbao is holding a record of 4W-0D-2L. Both of the losses came from the opening 2 matches of the season against Gijon (2:1) and Barcelona (0:1). It seems as Athletic Bilbao has found their rhythm as they are performing well in the recent matches. Today they have got a chance to get into top 4 in La Liga, and I don’t think they will let that chance go to waste.
Missing players:
– Malaga; Weligton, keko, Kuzmanović
– Ath Bilbao; Kepa, Bóveda, Aketxe
VERDICT
Malaga has not convinced me with their performance this season. Yes, they need this win more than anything, but to be fair I don’t see them defeating Athletic Bilbao. The visiting team has been playing well, and it resulted in their winning streak. Looking solely on La Liga performance, they are on a 4 match winning streak and if there is any team that will stop them, that surely isn’t Malaga. Pick Athletic Bilbao to take all 3 points home.
Prediction: Athletic Bilbao +0
Odds: 2.11 SBOBET
