Athletic Bilbao will be hoping to have the opportunity to move above seventh-placed Villarreal in the La Liga table when they welcome Celta Vigo to San Mames on Sunday evening.
The home side are currently eighth in the division, one point behind Villarreal on the same number of games (31), while Celta occupy 12th position, nine points off their opponents in this match.
Match preview
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Should Villarreal fail to beat Getafe on Saturday evening, Athletic would move into seventh position in the table with a victory over Celta on Sunday, with the Basque outfit eyeing their highest finish since 2017.
The Lions have finished 16th, eighth, 11th and 10th in their last four campaigns at this level of football, but they are certainly in the mix for seventh at this stage and will be bidding to record their 12th league victory of the campaign when Celta make the trip to San Mames.
Athletic have only lost one of their last five league matches, recording two wins in the process, while they will enter this game off the back of a 1-1 draw with Villarreal last weekend.
Marcelino's side have won eight of their 15 home league fixtures this term, suffering just four defeats in the process, while they recorded a 1-0 victory over Celta in the reverse match earlier this season.
Athletic will end April with matches against Cadiz and Atletico Madrid, while their final four matches of the 2021-22 La Liga campaign will see them face Valencia, Granada, Osasuna and Sevilla.
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Celta, meanwhile, have been on a disappointing run in recent weeks, picking up just one point from their last four matches, while they have lost their last two against Real Madrid and Espanyol.
The Sky Blues currently sit 12th in the table, boasting 36 points from their 31 matches, and they are only five points behind 10th-placed Osasuna, so a top-half finish this season is achievable.
Celta will find it difficult to match last season's eighth-place finish, but they were 17th in back-to-back seasons in 2018-19 and 2019-20, meaning that a top-half spot would be another step in the right direction.
Eduardo Coudet's side have been relatively strong on their travels this season, picking up 17 points from 15 matches, while they won 2-0 at San Mames in their last visit in December 2020.
Iago Aspas has once again enjoyed a strong campaign for Celta, finding the back of the net on 13 occasions in Spain's top flight, while Santi Mina has contributed seven goals in the league.
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Team News
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Athletic will again definitely be without the services of Inigo Lekue through injury, while Inigo Martinez remains a doubt, so it would not be a surprise to see the same back four from the clash with Villarreal.
Mikel Vesga had to be substituted in the first half against the Yellow Submarine and could also miss out, with Dani Garcia potentially coming into the starting XI on Sunday.
Nico Williams is also pushing for a spot in the side, but it seems likely that Alex Berenguer will again operate off the right, with Raul Garcia playing in a front two alongside Inaki Williams.
As for Celta, Renato Tapia and Hugo Mallo are set to miss out through injury once again, but the visitors have no fresh injury concerns from their clash with Espanyol.
Head coach Coudet is expected to resist the temptation to shuffle his pack following the 1-0 defeat, with Mina and Aspas likely to continue as the front two despite pressure from Thiago Galhardo.
Brais Mendez and Franco Cervi should continue in the wide areas, meanwhile, with Denis Suarez and Fran Beltran making up the midfield for the away team.
Athletic Bilbao possible starting lineup:
Simon; De Marcos, Vivian, Yeray, Balenziaga; Berenguer, D Garcia, Vesga, Muniain; R Garcia, I Williams
Celta Vigo possible starting lineup:
Dituro; Vazquez, Aidoo, Araujo, Galan; Beltran, Mendez, D Suarez, Cervi; Aspas, Mina
We say: Athletic Bilbao 2-1 Celta Vigo
Athletic are unbeaten at home in the league since the end of December, winning four of their last five matches in front of their own supporters, and we are expecting the Basque outfit to secure another three points this weekend at the expense of an out-of-form Celta side.
Top tip
Matt Law
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Athletic Bilbao win with a probability of 51.36%. A draw had a probability of 25.3% and a win for Celta Vigo had a probability of 23.31%.
The most likely scoreline for an Athletic Bilbao win was 1-0 with a probability of 12.4%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (9.74%) and 2-1 (9.43%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (12.01%), while for a Celta Vigo win it was 0-1 (7.65%). The actual scoreline of 0-2 was predicted with a 3.7% likelihood.
