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Athletic Bilbao host Sevilla in a La Liga showdown at the San Mamés Stadium on Saturday night.
Athletic Bilbao and Sevilla have not had the ideal start to their 2020-21 campaign.
The two clubs, which usually fight for the European qualification spots, are now struggling in the bottom half of the La Liga standings.
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Athletic and Sevilla suffered a 1-0 loss in their previous La Liga outings against Osasuna and Elche respectively and will be aiming to record their third win of the season in this fixture.
Athletic Bilbao vs Sevilla Head-to-Head
Sevilla are Athletic Bilbao's sixth-most encountered opponents across all competitions while Athletic are fifth on Sevilla's list of most-familiar rivals. Across all competitions the clubs have squared off on 158 occasions, with their first La Liga meeting recorded in 1934.
The head-to-head record is pretty even at this point, with 66 wins for Sevilla, 61 for Athletic and the remaining 31 games ending in stalemates.
Five of their last 11 encounters have ended in wins for Los Leones, while five have gone Los Palanganas' way and one game ended in a 1-1 draw.
Athletic Bilbao form guide: L-W-L-L-W
Sevilla form guide: W-L-D-L-D
Athletic Bilbao vs Sevilla Team News
Athletic Bilbao will continue to be without Óscar de Marcos, Kenan Kodro and Ibai Gómez due to injuries. All three are expected to be back in the fold by mid-November.
Midfielder Peru Nolaskoain joined the team for a full training session earlier this week after recovering from a long injury spell but picked up another ankle injury during the session and is again recovering from the knock. There are no Athletic players suspended for the game.
Injured: Óscar de Marcos (ankle), Kenan Kodro (hand), Ibai Gómez (shoulder), Peru Nolaskoain (ankle)
Doubtful: None
Suspended: None
Julen Lopetegui doesn't have much to worry about as far as the team selection is concerned as only Oussama Idrissi is ruled out with a muscle injury for Sevilla ahead of their trip to Bilbao.
Jules Kounde returned to the fold in their win over Stade Rennais this week and should start against Athletic as well. Joan Jordán served his one-game suspension in Sevilla's defeat to Elche last time around and should return to the starting XI.
Injured: Oussama Idrissi (muscle)
Doubtful: None
Suspended: None
Athletic Bilbao vs Sevilla Predicted XI
Athletic Bilbao predicted XI (4-2-3-1): Unai Simon; Mikel Balenziaga, Inigo Martinez, Yeray Alvarez, Ander Capa; Unai Lopez, Dani Garcia; Iker Muniain, Raul Garcia, Alex Berenguer; Inaki Williams
Sevilla predicted XI (4-3-3): Yusuf Bono; Marcos Acuna, Diego Carlos, Jules Kounde, Jesus Navas; Joan Jordan, Fernando, Ivan Rakitic; Munir El Haddadi, Luuk de Jong, Suso
Athletic Bilbao vs Sevilla Prediction
Sevilla have lost two games back-to-back with 1-0 scorelines in La Liga but got back to winning ways against Stade Rennais with a 1-0 victory in their Champions League fixture.
They have Jules Kounde back in the defence and will also be able to welcome Juan Jordan in the starting XI. This should help them to fare better than in their previous two league outings.
As far as goals are concerned we expect striker Luuk De Jong to put Athletic defenders to the test on Saturday.
The Basque club have used a similar squad in their last few games, in part due to injuries, and it has failed to yield the desired results. We expect the Andalusians to defeat their northern rivals in this weekend clash.
Prediction: Athletic Bilbao 0-1 Sevilla
