Both Eibar and Athletic Bilbao will be looking for their first wins of the 2020-21 La Liga season when the pair lock horns at Estadio Municipal de Ipurua on Sunday afternoon.
Eibar have picked up just one point from their first two league games of the campaign, while Athletic suffered a 2-0 defeat at Granada in their season opener on September 12.
Match preview
© Reuters
Eibar opened their 2020-21 La Liga season with a goalless draw at home to Celta Vigo on September 12 before suffering a 2-1 defeat against Villarreal last time out.
Kike actually sent Jose Luis Mendilibar's side ahead against the Yellow Submarine early in the second period, but Gerard Moreno and Paco Alcacer both scored for the hosts to secure all three points.
After claiming 10th, ninth and 12th in La Liga between 2017 and 2019, Los Armeros finished 14th in Spain's top flight last term, which will go down as a slight disappointment.
A number of first-team players, including Fabian Orellana, Charles and Gonzalo Escalante, have left the club on free transfers this summer, but they have spent close to £2m on Dinamo Zagreb attacker Damian Kadzior.
© Reuters
Athletic, meanwhile, opened their new season with a 2-0 defeat at Granada on September 12 and have not been in action since, meaning that it will be 15 days between their first two matches of the campaign.
It was a desperately disappointing finish to last season for the Basque outfit, who lost four of their last five league outings to drop down the table, ultimately finishing in 11th position.
Restricted to signing Basque-only players, it has been a very quiet transfer window the club. As a result, it is difficult to imagine them pushing towards the European places this season, even considering the talent that they can call upon in the final third of the field.
Gaizka Garitano's side have a winnable run of matches ahead, though, as their next five are against Eibar, Cadiz, Alaves, Levante and Osasuna before a tough examination at home to Sevilla at the end of October.
Eibar La Liga form: DL
Athletic Bilbao La Liga form: L
Team News
© Reuters
Eibar will again be without the services of Cote and Anaitz Arbilla through injury, but Pape Diop is available after serving a suspension against Villarreal and should return to the midfield.
Kike was on the scoresheet against the Yellow Submarine and is again expected to lead the attack, while Edu Exposito should retain his spot in the starting XI.
As for Athletic, Ibai Gomez is on the sidelines through injury, but Garitano otherwise has a strong squad to choose from heading into Sunday's encounter.
Yuri Berchiche missed out on the opening weekend through injury but is now fit and should start at left-back, while Unai Lopez could take the place of Mikel Vesga in the middle of the park.
Inaki Williams was named on the bench against Granada but is expected to be back in the XI for this match, lining up alongside Jon Morcillo, Iker Muniain and Raul Garcia in attack.
Eibar possible starting lineup:
Dmitrovic; Correa, Oliveira, Bigas, Rodrigues; Recio, Diop; Leon, Exposito, Inui; Kike
Athletic Bilbao possible starting lineup:
Simon; Capa, Alvarez, Martinez, Yuri; D Garcia, Lopez; Williams, Muniain, Morcillo; R Garcia
We say: Eibar 1-2 Athletic Bilbao
Athletic are unbeaten in their last 12 matches with Eibar in all competitions, but the last three matches between these two sides have finished level. We are expecting another tight game on Sunday but fancy Athletic to pick up all three points courtesy of a 2-1 success.
Top betting tip
Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting over 1.5 goals in this match. Click here to find out what else they are predicting for this game and for more of their tried-and-tested football tips.Over 1.5:data
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 Eibar win with a probability of 39.24%. A win for Athletic Bilbao had a probability of 33.16% and a draw had a probability of 27.6%.
The most likely scoreline for a Eibar win was 1-0 with a probability of 11.46%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (8.22%) and 2-0 (7.23%). The likeliest Athletic Bilbao win was 0-1 (10.32%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (13.03%). The actual scoreline of 1-2 was predicted with a 7.4% likelihood.
