In this week 23 match on Feb 7th, Athletic Club hosts Espanyol at San Mamés Barria in a meeting of these two closely matched La Liga teams. Weather on match day is looking like a cloudy and cool day, with daytime temperatures of only 8 degrees, which will make playing unpleasant. Athletic Club is fresh off their 1-0 shutout win against Real Madrid. Alex Berenguer struck first for Athletic Club in the 89th minute, and with that single goal the scoring was complete. Neither team could manage anything else In the end, Real Madrid was frustrated by Athletic Club’s defence and couldn’t put any tallies on the board. Athletic Club ended the match with the shutout victory. Athletic Club is looking for direction having 3 win and 3 losses in their last 10 matches, while 13th placed Espanyol is fresh off their 1-4 loss against Real Betis. Raúl de Tomás scored the first goal for Espanyol in the 14th minute, then Borja Iglesias tied it up for Real Betis in the 31st minute Finally they completed the comback victory in the 36th minute on a goal by Guido Rodríguez to cap off a wild match. Espanyol is looking for direction having earned 13 points in their last 10 matches.
On Oct 26th, Espanyol hosted Athletic Club at the Rcde Stadium in their last match together. Espanyol and Athletic Club battled to a 1-1 draw. Raúl de Tomás struck first for Espanyol in the 33rd minute on a penalty shot, then Williams tied it up for Athletic Club in the 52nd minute on a penalty shot squeezing out at least the one point for Athletic Club.
Raúl de Tomás has been the most prolific scorer on Espanyol in his last 5 matches with 3 goals. Athletic Club is lucky enough to have a few offensive weapons, with Nicholas Williams Arthuer and Muniain each having 2 goals in their last 5
Marcelino García Toral’s Athletic Club squad will be without Oihan Sancet, De Marcos, Yeray, Muniain and Asier Villalibre, while Raúl de Tomás is unavailable to play for Vicente Moreno Peris’s team.