It is not often you reach March in one of the top European leagues to find that teams in the bottom half of the table still have a realistic chance of qualifying for Europe.
That’s the case in La Liga this season and on Friday night two teams from the bottom half, Athletic Club and Espanyol, meet at the New San Mames with the intention of moving into the top half and pushing for Europe.
The hosts are currently in 12th place with 33 points and that leaves the only 4 points behind 6th place Sevilla. Espanyol have the same number of points as Athletic Club and a win would also be a huge boost to their chances of finishing in the top six.
Athletic Club fell to a 2-0 defeat at Valencia last weekend and missed the opportunity to get into the top half of the table. Having won their previous two La Liga games and held Barcelona to a draw, confidence would have been high but it took a blow at the Mestalla.
Trends show Athletic Club are tough to beat at home and they are undefeated in their last eight home La Liga matches. However, four of those games have ended in draws and if only Athletic Club could have won at least one of those matches, it would have made a lot of difference to their current position.
They have seen under 2.5 goals in each of those eight games and Athletic Club have kept a clean sheet in their last four on home soil.
Espanyol picked up a good 3-1 win over Real Valladolid last week and that results means they are undefeated in their last five La Liga games. Only two of those matches have produced wins, both of which came on home soil and Espanyol have drawn each of their last two away games in the league.
Trends show Espanyol have lost five of their last seven away La Liga matches and won just five of their last thirty-two on the road. Scoring goals has been an issue and Espanyol have failed to find the back of the net in four of their last six away La Liga games.
Looking ahead to the team news and Athletic Club have Inigo Lekue, Alex Remiro and Mikel Rico back in training but Ander Capa and Aritz Aduriz will miss out because of injury.
Espanyol have two players suspended with Borja Iglesias and Sergi Darder the men unavailable. David Lopez, Sergio Garcia and Pablo Piatti headline the list of players currently injured for Espanyol but Naldo Gomes is back in training.
This is going to be a tight game and if Athletic Club’s recent home record is anything to go by, we are unlikely to see many goals. The draw and under 2.5 goals seems like a decent bet.