Villarreal vs Athletic Bilbao preview

January 12, 2016
By: Nemanja Lazarevic

Villarreal vs AthleticVillarreal squandered a two-goal lead in the first leg as Athletic produced one of their trademark comebacks to win the game 3-2, with both sides now harbouring hopes of reaching the next stage.

The Yellow Submarine have been enjoying the most successful season since they returned to the elite division, and said defeat at San Mames ended a five-match winning run.

The run of six straight league wins saw Villarreal cement the fourth place in the La Liga standings and the Champions League berth is now theirs to lose.

Boasting an eight-point advantage over their nearest rivals, the Yellow Submarine can now shift their focus towards the Copa del Rey campaign.

Villarreal made a real mess out of a bright start as they couldn’t hold on to a two-goal lead, but they have still been made 2.38 (11/8) favourites to win the return match.

It remains to be seen whether Marcelino Garcia Toral will again make wholesale changes to his side, but Jaume Costa, Daniele Bonera and Adrian are definitely out.

Probable starting line-up (4-4-2): Barbosa – Rukavina, Bailly, Ruiz, Adrian Marin – Samu Garcia, Pina, Bruno, Samu Castillejo – Baptistao, Bakambu.

As one of the competition’s most successful sides, Athletic have the obligation to give their best in Copa del Rey and they rarely disappoint.

Los Leones have reached the final two times in last four years, with Barcelona standing between them and what would have been their 24th title on both occasions.

Athletic have had their ups and downs in both Europa League and La Liga this term, but they are still in the race for European positions and have a chance to reach the final stages of EL.

As far as their Cup campaign is concerned, los Leones dispatched of minnows Linense, winning 8-0 on aggregate before coming from two goals behind to record a 3-2 win over Villarreal.

And with Ernesto Valverde again set to field a very strong side, unlike his counterpart, there is definitely value in odds of 3.30 (23/10) offered on away win.

Important midfielder Raul Garcia is set to spend three months on the sidelines through a knee ligament injury, while Ibai Gomez, Gorka Elustondo and Eneko Boveda miss out as well.

Probable starting line-up (4-2-3-1): Iago – De Marcos, Etxeita, Laporte, Lekue – Iturraspe, San Jose – Susaeta, Benat, Muniain – Williams.

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