La Liga
The Monday night game in La Liga pits two teams in contrasting situations together as struggling Almeria hosts top-four challengers Athletic Club.
Almeria’s situation looks bleakThe Andalusian’s situation goes from bad to worse in La Liga each week, as a 2-1 defeat at Valencia last time out in the Spanish top-flight means that the home team has failed to win in 26 Liga games dating back to last season.
The torrid run of form has inevitably led Almeria to the bottom of the table, 14 points adrift of safety, and needing a miracle to save them from the drop.
Almeria are winless in their last 12 home games in the Spanish top-flight, although they have claimed three draws from their previous four matches on home soil while keeping clean sheets in all three draws at the Power Horse Stadium.
Athletic in fine fettleThe visitors will be highly confident of recording a victory in this one, especially as a midweek 1-0 win at Atletico Madrid in the Copa del Rey made Ernesto Valverde’s team four games unbeaten in all competitions.
In La Liga, the boys from Bilbao have won five of their previous seven games in the Spanish top-flight.
A significant factor in Los Leones’ recent decent league form has been a strong defence, as they have kept clean sheets in five of the seven matches.
The recent run of results has kept Athletic in with a chance of claiming a top-four spot and Champions League football. The visitors are currently fifth-place in the table, three points adrift of fourth-place Atletico Madrid.
Athletic Club have a slightly inconsistent recent away record in La Liga, although they have lost just once in their previous six matches on their travels.
What am I backing?Almeria has been genuinely awful of late, and I am backing another tough day at the office, with Athletic recording a victory.
