Athletic Bilbao have defeated the other three ‘V’ clubs this season, sitting alongside Valladolid around the middle of the table (Villarreal, Vallecano, Valencia) by a one-goal margin.
Athletic Bilbao
Two La Liga clubs on opposite ends of 2-1 weekend results play out their final league game before the World Cup break with a Tuesday evening clash at San Mames, where Athletic Bilbao have already defeated the other three ‘V’ clubs this season sitting alongside Valladolid around the middle of the table (Villarreal, Vallecano, Valencia) by a one-goal margin. If anyone was seeking confirmation that Athletic’s season has hit rock-bottom, manager Ernesto Valverde described their embarrassing 2-1 away loss to the bottom half Girona as “the worst game we’ve played” Five missed opportunities against clubs placed beneath them in the standings going into this round perhaps explains why Athletic’s push for a first European appearance since 2017/18 continues to lose stability.
Valladolid
Going into the middle of October, Valladolid suffered the same run of poor form that Athletic are now in the midst of, winning just one of five LaLiga games, but have capitalised on a helpful period of three home fixtures in a four-game period to work their way towards the upper echelons of the table and secure their highest position after 13 LaLiga games since 2012/13. In stark contrast with his direct opponent, Valladolid manager Pacheta declared last weekend’s 2-1 home win over struggling Elche “one of our most complete” performances. What an opportune time it would be then for Pacheta to see his side turn in another complete performance and secure just his second victory over Athletic from six attempts after steering Huesca to a surprise result in 2020/21.
Victory would not only end that H2H hoodoo but also aid Valladolid’s travelling woes, with their two most recent trips seeing them fail to score against both Osasuna and Espanyol.
After spending time on loan at Valladolid last season, Athletic’s Jon Morcillo could come back to haunt his former side here after opening the scoring in the previous H2H. Meanwhile, Valladolid may look towards Roque Mesa for another early impact after he scored within 50 minutes in two of their last three LaLiga wins. Both teams have scored in all but one of the last nine H2Hs.