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

Mestalla will host an intriguing La Liga contest on Saturday evening, as Valencia and Athletic Bilbao face off in search of three points.

Valencia are currently 19th in the La Liga table, picking up five points from their opening eight matches of the campaign, while Athletic are 10th in the division on eight points.

Match preview

Valencia have a record of one win, two draws and five defeats from their eight league matches this season, with five points leaving them down in 19th spot in the division.

Los Che had an incredibly poor start to the campaign, only picking up one point from their opening five matches, but they have since gathered four points from their last three matches.

Valencia's first league win of the season came away to Alaves on September 15, while they will enter this match off the back of a 1-1 draw with Racing de Santander on October 11 in what was Javier Aguirre's first game since arriving as head coach.

Los Che lead the overall head-to-head record between the two sides, having posted 77 wins to Athletic's 74, while 49 of their 200 matches have finished level.

Valencia actually recorded a 1-0 victory over Athletic when the two teams last locked horns in May 2026, and two of their last three meetings have been won by the six-time Spanish champions.

Athletic's La Liga clash with Rayo Vallecano at Estadio de Vallecas on Saturday was abandoned in the 13th minute after the home fans threw paper planes and rubber balls onto the pitch as part of a protest against the club's owner and president Raul Martin Presa.

Edin Terzic's side have only played six league matches this season, boasting a record of two wins, two draws and two defeats, with eight points leaving them in 10th spot in the table.

Athletic's last match was the goalless draw with Alaves on September 19, and they are unbeaten in the league since a 2-0 reverse to Barcelona at the end of August.

The Lions finished 12th in Spain's top flight last term, so there is plenty of room for improvement during the current campaign.

Athletic have four matches to come before the end of the month, taking on Levante and Getafe in their two league games after this one, before facing Prat in the Copa del Rey on October 29.

Valencia La Liga form:

Athletic Bilbao La Liga form:

Team News

Valencia will be without the services of Sergi Canos, Diego Lopez and Umar Sadiq on Saturday through injury, while Luis Rioja and Dimitri Foulquier are seen as fitness doubts.

Dani Raba and Hugo Duro are both expected to feature in the final third of the field, while there should also be spots in the side for David Otorbi and Javi Guerra.

Pepelu featured in the middle of the defence against Racing last time out, but the 28-year-old could be moved into central midfield for this weekend's contest.

Athletic trio Oihan Sancet, Nico Williams and Unai Egiluz are out of the match through injury; Aymeric Laporte is also seen as a doubt and faces a late fitness test.

It is expected to be the same front six from the match against Rayo, which was abandoned early on, with Inaki Williams featuring through the middle.

There should also be spots in the final third of the field for both Alex Berenguer and Peio Canales.

Valencia possible starting lineup:

Dimitrievski; Maffeo, Diakhaby, Haas, Gaya; Pepelu, Rodriguez; Otorbi, Guerra, Raba; Duro

Athletic Bilbao possible starting lineup:

Simon; Areso, Alvarez, Laporte, Berchiche; Inigo de Galarreta, Gerenabarrena; Navarro, Canales, Berenguer; I Williams

We say: Valencia 1-1 Athletic Bilbao

Valencia have struggled for results and performances this season, and they will be coming up against an Athletic team with a lot of talent, but absences could count the Lions the chance to secure all three points at Mestalla.

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