Preview:Athletic Bilbao vs Alaves - prediction, team news, lineups

Athletic Bilbao will be aiming to post a fourth straight win at the start of the 2025-26 La Liga campaign when they welcome Alaves to San Mames on Saturday evening.

Ernesto Valverde's side are second in the La Liga table, level on nine points with leaders Real Madrid, while their visitors are 11th, boasting four points from their opening three games of the season.

Match preview

Athletic have been in excellent form at the start of the new campaign, collecting nine points from three matches, beating Sevilla, Rayo Vallecano and Real Betis in the opening weeks of the season.

The Lions finished fourth in La Liga last term, and they will be expecting to claim a similar spot this season, although head coach Valverde will need to balance both domestic and European commitments.

Athletic will open their Champions League league phase campaign against Arsenal on September 16, and it will be fascinating to see how the La Liga outfit perform in the competition this term.

Valverde's team had a quiet summer transfer window due to the Basque-only policy at San Mames, with the club making only two signings in the shape of Robert Navarro and Jesus Areso.

Athletic's best piece of transfer business was to keep hold of Nico Williams, though, with the Spain international again turning down the advances of Barcelona to sign a new deal at San Mames.

Alaves, meanwhile, opened their 2025-26 La Liga season with a 2-1 home success over Levante, but they were beaten 1-0 by Real Betis in their first away game of the campaign on August 22.

Eduardo Coudet's side entered the September international break off the back of an excellent result, though, drawing 1-1 with Atletico Madrid, and four points from three games has left them in 11th spot in the division.

Alaves finished 15th in La Liga last season, just two points clear of the relegation zone, so there is clear room for improvement during the 2025-26 campaign.

However, this is one of the best periods in the club's history, having been present in La Liga in eight of the last nine seasons.

Alaves have only won eight of their previous 51 matches against Athletic in all competitions, suffering 34 defeats in the process, while they were beaten 1-0 in the corresponding game last season.

Athletic Bilbao La Liga form:

WWW

Alaves La Liga form:

WLD

Team News

Athletic will be without the services of Nico Williams on Saturday due to an issue that he sustained on Spain duty, and the attacker is also a major doubt for the Champions League clash with Arsenal.

Unai Egiluz is also definitely out through injury, while Alex Padilla and Yeray Alvarez are both suspended.

Inigo Lekue and Benat Prados will need to be assessed, meanwhile, with Athletic potentially without the services of six first-team players for the visit of Alaves this weekend.

As for Alaves, Nikola Maras and Carlos Protesoni are both major doubts for the trip to San Mames.

Toni Martinez has scored once in La Liga this season and is expected to be in the starting side, while Carlos Vicente, who is also off the mark this term, should feature in a wide area.

There are unlikely to be any surprises in the away side's XI here, with Carles Alena also due to start, but experienced striker Mariano Diaz is again likely to feature on the bench for the first whistle.

Athletic Bilbao possible starting lineup:

Simon; Areso, Paredes, Vivian, Berchiche; Ruiz de Galarreta, Jauregizar; I Williams, Sancet, Berenguer; Sannadi

Alaves possible starting lineup:

Sivera; Jonny, Tenaglia, Garces, Diarra; Ibanez, Blanco; Vicente, Guridi, Alena; Martinez

We say: Athletic Bilbao 2-1 Alaves

Alaves have not beaten Athletic since October 2020 and have not won away to the Lions since November 2005, so it is tough to predict a victory for the visitors here. It should be a tight match, but Athletic have enough quality to navigate their way to all three points.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.