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

Athletic Bilbao's bid to qualify for Europe will continue on Sunday afternoon when they welcome a Valencia outfit that are not yet safe from the drop in Spain's top flight.

The home side are currently eighth in the La Liga table, level on points with seventh-placed Getafe, while Valencia are 12th, three points above the relegation zone.

Match preview

There is no getting away from the fact that it has been an underwhelming campaign for Athletic, but they are still very much in the race for Europe heading into the final straight.

Ernesto Valverde's side will enter this match off the back of a 4-2 success over Alaves, with the result moving them onto 44 points from 34 matches, which is enough for eighth, level on points with seventh-placed Getafe and three behind Celta Vigo in sixth.

Securing more Champions League football for next season will be incredibly tough, though, as they sit nine points behind fifth-placed Real Betis.

Athletic finished 29th in the league phase of this season's Champions League, but they could be well-placed to be a serious challenger for the Europa League next term, should qualification for the competition be secured in the final stages of the campaign.

The Lions have picked up 29 points from their 17 home league matches this season, while Valencia have collected 13 points from their 17 La Liga fixtures on their travels.

As for Valencia, Carlos Corberan's side still have work to do when it comes to avoiding relegation, with the team currently 12th in the table, three points ahead of 18th-placed Alaves.

Incredibly, though, Los Che are only five points off seventh-placed Getafe and a spot in the Conference League playoff round, which demonstrates how close it is in the division.

Valencia will enter this match off the back of a 2-0 home defeat to Atletico Madrid, but they did end April with a 2-1 success over Girona at Mestalla.

Los Che suffered a 2-1 home defeat to Athletic in the reverse match earlier this season, and they have lost three of their last four fixtures with Sunday's opponents.

Valencia's last three wins over Athletic have all been at home, meanwhile, with their last away victory over the Lions coming back in September 2019.

Athletic Bilbao La Liga form:

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Valencia La Liga form:

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Team News

Athletic need to make a late check on the fitness of Benat Prados, but there is a chance that the Basque outfit could have a fully-fit squad for the visit of Valencia.

Robert Navarro's goal and impressive performance off the bench against Alaves last time out should lead to a start for the attacker on Sunday.

Nico Williams showed signs of his best against Alaves, scoring twice, and the Spain international will be aiming to put his fitness problems behind him to enjoy a strong end to the season.

As for Valencia, Mouctar Diakhaby, Dimitri Foulquier, Copete, Thierry Correia and Julen Agirrezabala have been ruled out of the contest, while Lucas Beltran is a major doubt.

Head coach Corberan could make three changes from the side that started against Atletico last time out, with Unai Nunez and Eray Comert potentially being introduced into the defence, while Diego Lopez could feature in a wide area.

However, there is expected to be another spot through the middle for Umar Sadiq, who has scored twice in his last three La Liga appearances.

Athletic Bilbao possible starting lineup:

Simon; Gorosabel, Alvarez, Laporte, Berchiche; Ruiz de Galarreta, Rego; Navarro, Sancet, N Williams; Guruzeta

Valencia possible starting lineup:

Dimitrievski; U Nunez, Comert, Tarrega, Gaya; Rioja, Guerra, Rodriguez, Lopez; Ramazani, Sadiq

We say: Athletic Bilbao 2-1 Valencia

We are expecting this to be a tight match in terms of the scoreline, but Athletic need to win to keep pushing for the top six, and the Lions should have enough quality to shade the match.

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